Star Wars Legends: New Order
by basa93
Summary: Harry Potter don't know how he arrived here or where exactly he is. What he knows however is that he made a new friend and will help her any way he can. (Rewritten version of the Star Wars Legends: Beginning.)
1. 1 A new World

**AN1:** Sorry for the long wait! I didn't really worked on my fic in the last months (well summer). I will update them more often from now on!

 **AN2:** Why did I feel the need for a new, rewritten version? Well, I decided to rewrite the original but as I did it became so different that I couldn't just upload one chapter after another as it would just confuse most.

 **AN3:** Reviews, PMs, constructive critics, ideas, questions are all welcome! But, Trolls, Flames etc. will be ignored or deleted. Guests can ask or review the chapter at the forum I cerated

www dot fanfiction dot net/forum/basa93-fanfics/185599/

 **AN4:** This story will be AU for both universe. Please remember this!

 **AN5: I don't own the Star Wars, nor the Harry Potter franchise or any part of both. I won't have any monetary gain from this. I only own my OCs.**

 **AN6: This story was inpsired by Last Second Savior by plums, Sword and Magic by bluminous8 and The Good Left Undone by Darth Malleus.**

 **AN7: I'm Hungarian and have dyslesia. Please remember that!  
**

 **AN8: I found a beta reader in Fairywn! She worked really hard on it, in my opinion did an amazing job. Thank you again Fairywm!**

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Chapter I:

A new world

Harry James Potter was drinking his morning coffee at 12 Grimmauld Place. It has been over eight years since the end of the war where he destroyed Lord Voldemort, one of if not the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time. After the battle everything changed for him. Honestly, he had no future plans, with worrying about Voldemort all the time. His only goal was to be alive after the Final Battle. Now that he accomplished that he had no idea what to do with his life.

Not that he hadn't received offers from practically everywhere in the magical United Kingdom. The Ministry offered him a job as an auror or hit wizard. The top two quidditch teams, Puddlemere United and the Montrose Magpies, both offered him a position as their reserve seeker, along with several smaller clubs. Harry was overwhelmed by it, at first . He tried to be as polite as he could be when he refused those offers, but he was pretty sure he managed to offend at least the Magpies, as the League's most successful team.

He enjoyed quidditch very much, but couldn't imagine himself doing it as a job for the rest of his life. He knew that he could do it for possibly three, maybe four years before the press would drive him crazy. Quidditch stars were always the center of attention, and adding his already famous status... Well, he doubted it could be much worse than what it already was, but why take the chance.

The Ministry's offer, on the other hand, was refused with a firm "No". When Kingsley himself asked him, after the letter he first sent was sent back, the dark-skinned man had to back off when the messy-haired man's hand found his wand. Not that Harry would curse or hex Kingsley, much, he would show him that he had no desire to work for any part of the government. Not after his fifth and sixth year at Hogwarts. The young hero said that he would do his duty and help them stabilize the country, but nothing more.

Of course after that, there was an election – since Kingsley was only interim minister – and somehow Harry's name came out in The Daily Prophet as a possible candidate. After that his house was literally full of letters, offering help and encouraging their hero to take the velvet chair of the Minister. Harry gave an exclusive interview to Luna, for The Quibbler, where he rebutted all claims The Prophet made of him participating in the election.

The election was held two months after Voldemort's downfall – with the victory to Kingsley – and for the next two weeks Harry done nothing at all. As in, he stayed at home, or at the Burrow, lazing around. He couldn't decide what he wanted to do. Nothing came to his mind when someone asked what he will do.

Not so surprisingly, it was Hermione and Ginny who helped him out of his sudden problem of freedom. 'Why not travel for a while?' they said. Then he could experience so many things and it would end his dilemma. He had enough money to live comfortably without working a single hour for the rest of his life, so he didn't need to worry about finances.

He was nearly as hesitant about it as he was regarding job offers, but as time passed he found the idea of seeing the world becoming more and more tempting. All of his friends had told him about their experiences abroad and how great it was.

Not a week after he told his friends about his decision, he was already in Paris. After that there was no stopping. He went around the world visiting country after country, continent after continent. Of course, other countries quickly heard of him being eligible to them, both as worker or even a citizen. He was offered jobs left and right just like back at home, which he refused just as politely.

It seemed that Voldemort's fall left a power vacuum behind, which many tried to fill. It was only luck – or misfortune – that he was in the same country – which happened to be Australia – at the same time one tried to overthrow that government. With Harry's help, he was quickly captured.

After his heroics, the International Confederation of Wizard started requesting his aid in several other matters, ranging widely in both severity and duration, not to mention success. He was lucky so far, with only a few minor failures. However, Harry knew that as soon as he couldn't solve one of their bigger problems, the crowd would change their opinion of him. There were several groups, mostly in Asia and Africa, who didn't want him anywhere their country.

Shaking himself from his musings, Harry softly sighed and took another sip of his coffee. He was tired, he had only arrived the night before from Norway, where he monitored talks for nearly a month between the Norwegian Ministry and a giant tribe. He only wanted a few days so that he could unwind a little bit after such an ordeal.

'No,' he amended to himself 'I want this to end. I don't want to do this anymore.' It wasn't like he didn't want to help others. He just didn't want to be the only one to solve all of their problems. He wasn't capable of that, but the big shots of the ICW didn't seems to understand that, or they just wanted to use him as a scapegoat if something didn't work out. 'I urged them to assemble a special force under their authority to act, but, no, they didn't need that. Well, I won't be their one-man problem solving squad anymore. I'll speak with them, again.'

Harry knew that it will be an uphill battle, but it was one that he was willing to fight. But not today or tomorrow. He needed a bit free time away from everyone. Well, not exactly everyone...

If he didn't visit or at least contact them about his returning, then Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Remus and Nym would all have his head. Well, Remus may not, but the others surely would. Not to mention that he still had to speak with his last ex, Daphne Greengrass.

Finishing his drink, he apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. He waved at Hannah Longbottom, who waved back as she put another butterbeer in front of a patron. Quickly going to the back, he touched the correct bricks and stepped into the Diagon Alley. Daphne's birthday was coming up, and he wanted to buy her a birthday gift from one of her favorite shops.

His relationship with Daphne was... well, weird and it had been from the start. They became friends first, and understood each other pretty well, but in reality neither could imagine a future together as a family, with kids, a nice house and pets.

After a year or so they decided to end it amicably. It was great while it lasted, but nothing more. Harry was relieved that the atmosphere between the two of them didn't become awkward. Add her family and it was an entirely different story. There was nothing wrong with Astoria, Daphne's little sister, but her boyfriend was Draco Malfoy. Things were strained between the two men, even if neither tried to overly antagonize the other.

Not that it was better at his end. It was hard for the Weasley family, which he counted himself as part of, to connect to the Slytherin girl. They were cordial to each other, but the only ones close to her were Hermione and Ginny. The boys were rather indifferent towards the young woman, not to mention that Charlie was usually out the country. Fred and George stayed at their shop, while working all the time on one of their projects.

Speaking of Weasleys Ron changed, possibly the most and the least out of all of them. Sometimes he would be so level-headed and calm, dare he say wise, that Harry had trouble connecting the man's younger self to the older. Yet most of the time he was just the same light-hearted person he met on the Hogwarts Express that first year. Nonetheless in all honestly, Harry was a bit uncomfortable with talking his best friend as of late.

Ron's and Hermione's relationship was always a shaky one. Everyone who really knew them before they got together could foretell that. They were very different persons after all. Yin and Yang some would say, but there was always doubt if they could truly complete each other. Harry hoped that the relationship would make Ron more responsible, which luckily it did. What he didn't expect was Ron's jealousy.

Ron wasn't stupid. He wasn't as smart as Hermione, or as resourceful as Harry, but he wasn't stupid by any means. The redhead knew that Hermione was one of the most desirable woman, not to mention a high ranking researcher in the Ministry, and could easily chose from a wide array of male company. He also knew just how lucky he was that she settled with him. It didn't helped that she was busy all the time trying to create something similar to mobile phones in the Wizarding World.

It will be like the pair of mirrors Harry and Sirius had. There were piles of problems with it, but she said that they will be done by Spring at latest. But for that to happen she had to pull some night shifts with her subordinates, which of course led Ron to suspect his girlfriend's coworkers, and then her male friends, of having indecent thoughts about his love. Harry only avoided the same fate because he repeatedly said that Hermione was like a sister to him, and he was out of the country most of the time.

'Speaking of which, I still have have the time-turner from her,' he remembered. Hermione didn't think Harry had enough protection during his dealing with the giants, so 'borrowed' a time-turner from the Ministry, with Kingsley's silent approval. 'I will wait a bit before giving it back,' he decided. Not that he wanted to use it, but he wasn't in the right mood to endure another of the two frequent arguments.

He decided to ask around, hoping that their friends knew more information on the two. Ginny was the most outspoken about it. The ginger-haired girl plainly said that Ron was stupid to be this jealous, but Hermione was also stupid to let him go on about it all the time.

Harry felt his lips curling upwards in a slight smile thinking about Ginny. The girl caused quite a scandal when she entered a lesbian relationship with Luna, mostly with her mother though. Not to mention the rumors about them getting a male partner from time to time.

Gerold's Artifacts was two doors down from Ollivander's. The old wand-maker retired with his son taking up the craft. The shop which was Harry's target however didn't sell only one particular type of item as the name implied. It was the Diagon Alley counterpart of Borgin and Burkes. A shop filled with interesting and strange items, all legal and registered at the Ministry.

Daphne loved those items for their history and their magic. It just grabbed her interest like few other things did. Harry admitted that they were interesting, but sometimes found Daphne's enthusiasm towards them a bit too much. To him it was like seeing Hermione and her books again.

As he stepped inside Gerold, the shopkeeper, an older man with greying brown hair, smiled at him then went back to his Daily Prophet. Harry looked around, but nothing stood out, or everything did if someone prefered that way. It was hard to decide which occurred here. He examined the shelves until he spotted something in the far corner, between a golden pyramid, an ankh and a large hourglass. He looked at the familiar item. It was a man-sized mirror with the writing: 'I show not your face but your heart's desire' engraved backwards on the frame of it. It was the Mirror of Erised.

He decided to get it for Daphne the moment he saw it. It was one of the strangest item you could find and he knew that his ex would love it. Strange that it would end up here, but as he turned toward the shopkeeper to ask his danger sense went off. He erected a shield just in time to stop a stunning spell from hitting him.

He could see four wizards, in dark cloaks, making their way towards him with their wands pointed at his chest. He put up a stronger shield as the four tried to overpower him with a flurry of spells. They were overconfident and didn't really pay attention to what Harry did. When his own counter curse took one of their own down, it baffled them. Harry quickly sent a Reductor Curse at the next one, flinging him to the shelves at the side. The wizard didn't stand up again, but was alive. The remaining two obviously didn't know what to do. They glanced at each other and shouted at their fifth member, who Harry still couldn't see.

Harry could hardly believe his ears. They were young, maybe not even out of Hogwarts! He quickly sent a rope to one of them, while they were placing the blame one another. The other, seeing his friend's state, tried to run, but Harry yanked him back with a flick of his wand. The cloaked man soon found himself unconscious and in ropes next to his partner.

Another flick had the shelves flying to the sides, now Harry could see the whole shop. At the other side was the fifth member standing over the body of the shopkeeper. Harry couldn't be certain, but the man seemed to be only knocked out and not dead.

"If you drop your wand, I won't hurt you. I promise," he said in his most reassuring tone. Maybe it was overconfidence on his part, but he expected the last man standing to do so. He had already taken out four of his friends without any trouble. Even if he was stronger than his friends, he was still outclassed by Harry.

The response came in the form of a Bone Breaking Curse, which Harry blocked. He had to admit that their leader was far more talented and powerful than the four before. It was nothing to be really concerned about though.

Harry decided to Apparate behind him. It was fairly simple tactic, but if the enemy was caught unaware it will be over quickly. Just the moment before he could start, a spell nearly hit him from behind. One of the first two was still be able to put up a fight, but Harry remedied at with two stunning spells. The boy's shield held off the first one, but the second one broke through and slammed in his chest.

Turning back, he froze for a moment at what he saw. The fifth member was in the middle of casting a spell, not just any spell, but Fiendfyre. That moment cost Harry greatly. He tried to put up a shield, but the cursed fire burst out of the wand tip before he could do anything. The fire got out of control, much to the fear of the young man casting it and consumed everything in the room.

Harry only saw the flames around him, just before everything darkened.

* * *

Galactic Republic, Outer Rim Territories, Felucia, 16. 10. 12.

Harry arrived on a ground hard enough to leave him breathless for a second or two. He remained laying on there for a minute at least. When he looked around, he had to stop himself from sighing aloud.

He truly didn't know what happened. Fiendfyre was one of the most powerful dark curses, some said it was the strongest, even stronger than the killing curse, because destruction incarnate. It was near impossible to control even if some didn't believe it. He didn't know how he survived it or if he survived at all. He knew little of the afterlife, so maybe, as Dumbledore said at their last encounter, he was on his next Great Adventure. But, if that was true, why was he still an adult and remembering his whole life?

Not that it really mattered in the end. He could think about it about at a later date, but for now he should look around.

The surroundings were so alien that he knew it wasn't on Earth. He was in a tropical forest, but not in any of the rainforests of the Amazon or of the Congo. This was a thick forest of mushrooms and fungi of epic proportions, so large he couldn't see the top of them. They were in different shades of reds, blues, yellows and purples. Another thing that he noticed, was that he couldn't see any grass – anywhere. There was only dark brown earth on the ground. The moisture was also similar to the rainforests on Earth that Harry visited sometimes for work or vacation. The heat and moisture together will mean that he will lose energy fast, and there was a high chance of dehydration.

Augmenti could work around the last issue for a time. The two problem with conjured things were applied here as well. It would disappear after a while and suddenly losing a liter or so water, which he knew he would drink, was near certain death.

What really gave him a pause was the feeling this place gave. The magic was strong here, strong enough that he could feel it without trying, giving him a little tingling sensation all over his skin. There were only a select few places on Earth that it was possible, like Hogwarts or Stonehenge. He either came to one of those rare spots here, or the entire area was the same. However, the magic was somehow different than what he was accustomed to. It was lighter and it flowed freely like it was connecting everything together not tied down.

Nothing could be seen to show him a way to civilization, if there was any out there. His sixth sense told him to go in one particular direction. Harry often listened to his gut, most of the time it was the right thing to do, but now, it was strange somehow. It was stronger than he was accustomed to.

But what happened? Could it be spell he was caught in at the moment of his arrival? It was possible, as some of the Muggle Repelling Charms worked that way, even if with the opposite effect. Could someone influence his mind that easily? Voldemort wasn't considered the worst Dark Lord ever to walk on Earth for nothing. His magical power and mastery of the Unforgivables were the main part of it. Harry was able to withstand the Imperius Curse cast from him, for a time at least. He was nearly certain that he wasn't under any spell.

'What should I do?' he thought 'There are two options; I can either stay here or go wherever my luck will lead me. I know nothing of this place, so maybe wandering around wouldn't be the safest thing to do. However, I don't have an ounce of water, meaning I can only survive three days top, and will be useless way before that.' He stopped for moment listening to the noises around him Just as I thought there's no water nearby, at least not in earshot. Not to mention that I will need to heat it before drinking. So maybe I should try and go from here. The only downside would be that I will lose energy fast, especially on this terrain.'

It shouldn't have been a difficult choice. But, to Harry, sitting here would mean that his survival would be up to people finding him, and that was assuming that sentient beings lived nearby, which was something he was very reluctant to do.

First he tried to summon Kreacher, but nothing happened, just as he expected. The old house elf could find him anywhere on Earth. For some reason or another house elves at least seemed to know when their master was hurt, at least some of them would. If Kreacher could find him, he would be already at his side.

Then he looked around for his holly and phoenix wand, hoping for the unlikely chance that it wasn't destroyed by the cursed fire. There was nothing resembling the polished wooden craftworks in the clearing. He tried summoning both, but remained wandless. His spell should have work in about a twenty-thirty meter circle, thanks to his connection with them, but nothing. Not even a little noise of something trying to move, aside some animal to the right, which quickly moved away before Harry could see it.

He narrowed his eyes, and then motioned with his hand to one of the minor mushroom like trees. He had to know what he was capable if he needed to make do without a wand. It was possible that his wandless spells were weaker here, then he would have to move around a bit and try to summon his wand, again and again. Not very likely, considering how embedded in magic this place was, but it was a possibility.

When he cast the Banishing Charm, his eyes widened. The 'tree' swayed, and then gave away as it tore out of the ground. Even the other mushrooms surrounding that one seemed affected. Most only seemed to sway a little, but to the closest ones to the spell split open their bark.

This wasn't possible. It was as simple as that. No one could do it. Harry was one of the best of the few who could do wandless magic, but he doubted that anything less than three or four those wizards working together would be able to do the same. Not even Dumbledore or Voldemort, both of whom were far more experienced with wandless magic, would be able to.

Simply put, wandless magic was something that you used to augment your wand work, like wand motions. Most could only use the very basics; Alohomora, Lumos and the like. Harry, himself, could do a few of the intermediate spells, but his work was mediocre at best without the help of his wand.

Not to mention that there were several very dire consequences of doing magic without any caution. It was even more so without proper magical focus like a wand, a ring or a staff, let alone doing it without anything. The best case scenario would be that the spell didn't form at all. The worst? Well, there were cases when some mages tried to use the Reductor Curse, only to blow up their dominant hands. Harry was pretty sure that there were even more outrageous tries, but he assumed that most of the brave and foolish souls died on the spot.

Searching himself again he thankfully found his trunk. It was one of the more extravagant ones, while it didn't have seven different compartment like Moody's, it had three and could be minimized if needed. He was lucky that he had forgotten to take it out of his pocket last night. That meant that he didn't have to worry about shelter or food, since he had a one wizard tent in one of the compartments. He would be okay for two weeks at least, considering his fridge was full.

The tent of course made the staying put opinion much more eligible, but his original reasons for leaving stayed as well. There was nothing to do besides wait like a helpless infant for somebody to rescue him. Not only that, but he knew himself well enough to know that he wouldn't be able to sit here for two weeks either way, and he would go somewhere else anyway. It was bound to happen sooner rather than later.

Setting up the tent, while thanking his luck that nothing seemed damaged, he quickly changed into his 'safari clothes', which is what some of his friends nicknamed his hiking clothes. They were nothing special; a simple pair of hiking boots, some light brown cargo pants and a dark green T-shirt. He debated putting on the jacket, but decided against it. It was hot enough without it anyway. What he did put on was a pair of fingerless gloves. It was best if he had a good grip all the time, and his palm will be sweaty before long. A canteen on his belt, the penknife – that Sirius had gifted him in his fourth year– in his shirt pocket and a compass on his arm finished off his outfit.

Giving one last effort to locate his wand with his eyes, he looked around. Grimacing at the thought of not having his holly wand in his hand, he started walking out of the clearing in what he presumed was the east.

He made sure he was careful where he stepped. It was the first thing his guide told him everytime he visited a similar place. Ninety percent of the truly dangerous things, animals and plants alike, were on the ground.

Going through a rainforest is one of the most exhausting thing that you could do. It was a slow process, and he had to keep an eye on going straight, since it was ridiculously easy to just go in circles. Luckily, since he already experienced it, he had purchased a compass to prevent it from happening again.

He couldn't have been walking for more than an hour, when he arrived at a clearing. He knew that he needed to go on, but wasn't satisfied with the situation as it was. He looked at the 'trees' surrounding him. Most were quite large. If he could climb one of them, then maybe he could see where he should head to. It should've been his first thought, but honestly he wasn't a fan of climbing trees, not to mention that he had a feeling that it won't be a very productive activity.

He briefly wondered about Apparating to the top, but after a moment abandoned the idea. There was a reason most wizard only Apparated onto stable grounds. He wasn't certain how the tree would react to the sudden force and could easily bend in such way he slipped off and fall.

He gulped down another mouthful from his canteen, before picking out one of the larger mushroom shaped trees. Grumbling at the thought of climbing it, he started off by trying to find the easiest spot to ascend. Finding it wasn't difficult, but it was hard to truly grab ahold of anything.

Harry had hoped that he could just use his hands to make handholds in its trunk. He soon found out that the tree was almost rubbery, and much too hard to damage with bare hands, which left him using the knife on it. He thanked his luck for having it repaired not long after his seventh year at Hogwarts. He had kept it for mostly sentimental reasons, but like a wand was just as good for most tasks in this jungle of fungi the knife proved to be invaluable.

It took more than fifteen minutes before Harry reached the top. After taking several deep breaths, he looked over towards the sun. It had already past noon, but not by much, well, from what Harry could tell the sun seemed to move a bit slower than on Earth. Looking around he had to sigh at the view in front of him. He couldn't see anything except the giant fungi for miles around him. There was a line of mountain peaks to the north, but it was far from his position.

What Harry didn't know was that he had been in a valley since his arrival. It was deep enough for him not to notice several kilometer long objects in the distance.

Getting down to the ground was nearly as bad as getting up the tree. He didn't have a rope or anything to secure himself with, so any wrong move could cause his death. It was a fifty-fifty chance that a hastily cast spell without a wand would able to slow his fall.

After getting down, he sat down on one of the fallen fungi and took a large sip from his canteen. Harry was a bit troubled that he couldn't see anything in the direction where he headed, but he couldn't see anything anywhere else either.

"Troubled?" came an angelic voice from his right.

His head turned, no, whipped towards the source so fast that he could have sworn he heard the vertebra groan out in protest. As soon as Harry looked to his savior he could feel his eyes widen and his jaws hanging open, causing her to give him small grin.

 ** _Earlier at the communication's room of Base 3, Zone C5, Felucia_**

* * *

The room was nearly empty with only a large, circular holo projector in the center, and few smaller rectangular ones on the walls. There were only a dozen or so men and women, all standing around the main holo. Several of them were also nothing more than holographic images.

Aayla Secura, the Twi'lek Jedi Knight, looked at the holomap in front of her. This campaign to secure Felucia had only just begun. However, they have already won two major and many minor battles against the Separatists. If they kept advancing in the same way they could capture Kway Teow, the planet's capital.

With Felucia in the hands of the Republic, the Perlemian Trade Route should be safe from the raids organized by the President of the Commerce Guild, Shu Mai, who controlled the planet through puppet governors.

She was confident they would finish this campaign soon, yet couldn't help the uneasy feeling she had for days about the future. She tried to keep calm and meditate on it, trying to glimpse the event that would cause such reaction from the Force. When she reported her feeling to the Council, she could sense the same happening to them, which only made her more nervous. There were barely a handful of occasions when something like this happened. The last was just before the beginning of the Clone Wars.

Calming herself down, Aayla turned to the man standing next to her asking for his opinion with just that gesture. Bly had been her right hand man since the start of the war, and his help proved invaluable. In those four years, they got to know each other well enough that sometimes there was no need for words.

"We are proceeding with the battle plans even better than we suspected," the commander said. "There are two possibilities I believe, either they have set up a defense line with everything they have, or the leaders and most of the droids have left the planet already."

"They didn't. They will try to cause as much damage as they can, before Shu Mai escapes," Aayla said as most of the attending officers nodded at that. The Separatist gave the philosophy 'quantity have a quality of its own' a new meaning. Knowing that they could replace their losses much easier than the Republic, the Separatist exploited every possible chance to drain the Republic's manpower.

"We should head towards Niango," Bly said, pointing towards the city to the north. "There will be resistance at these points." Three points were marked with yellow dots. "Well, at least I would use those to try and defend the road to the city."

"You are better strategist and tactician than General Odo," Aayla replied with a shrug. Making a man with so little skill the overall commanding officer showed that Felucia was only good for being a base for raiding, but aside from that it had no real strategical or economical value.

"I still can't believe that man has such a high position." Bly was disgusted at the blatant favouritism shown by the Separatists. "He would be a sergeant with us!"

"Now, now, there is no need to insult our officers," the Jedi Knight said, which resulted a few snickers around the room. "I think they will try and defend only the capital. In the previous battles it didn't seem like they wanted to hold the planet any longer," her voice changed to a more serious tone.

"It would mean that capturing Niango would be much easier," the holo image of Admiral Mian said. The woman was tall, a bit on the thin side with brown hair and eyes. She was an average strategist, but good commander. "If we disable their orbital defense, our ships could take off."

"The capital also has those," Aayla replied, shaking her head shooting the idea of bringing the ships up to space down. She could understand the Admiral: doing nothing, but just sitting around as others fought, could cause anyone wishing to join the fight. But doing it so for the ship would only result in disaster.

At first they tried to form a blockade, only to have one of their Acclamator frigate shot down. Aayla immediately ordered the ships down to the ground, where they stayed since.

"The idea isn't that bad though," Bly said as he zoomed out the map. Now they could see the entire operational ground. Their own troops were green with different shape for different groups. Squares and triangles for the regiments and circles for the scouts. The Separatists were red, but they could only guess their positions in most cases. The officers started to theorize just how much they would gain from capturing Niango.

That was when Aayla stiffened, there was a pulse in the Force somewhere in the jungle. She closed her eyes as she tried to locate the origin of the sensation. She wasn't sure, but she suspected that it was a someone and not a something that caused it. She was confused. This could be the reason of her troubled feelings. Maybe. The Force was silent, offering no guidance in the matter. She will need to see the source of the disturbance with her own eyes.

"... General!" She felt someone grab her shoulder, causing her to open her eyes. Looking past Bly, who was the one who grabbed her, she noticed that everyone was looking at her. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Thank you, Bly," Aayla replied, hesitating for a moment. "I don't know what was the cause was, but... I felt a disturbance in the Force."

"Could it be a Sith?" a clearly disturbed Lieutenant Galle asked. The troubled officers looked at each other before Aayla's voice turned their attention toward the Jedi Knight.

"I don't think it was a Sith. I can only say that whatever was the source it is somewhere here," she said, pointing to a section on the map. It was a valley that was maybe ten miles long and half as wide, starting not even five kilometer south of their camp.

"Our scouts found nothing worth of mentioning when they scoured the valley not two days ago," Bly said as he quickly searched for the reports on his datapad.

"I don't want to belittle our scouts, but it wouldn't be hard to fool them for a Force-sensitive. Especially since we were looking for battle droids and not for someone like me," Aayla said, knowing that it mattered little if the Force user was skilled enough. She, herself, sneaked past sentient beings several times over the course of her career and had seen others doing the same. Even those with minor Force abilities like Aurra Sing.

"It will be hard to access it with speeder bikes. Last time it was a LAAT that was used, but..." Galle said, looking at the map.

"We can't use them. If it is truly a Force-sensitive I'll need to go on foot... and alone," Aayla said as she looked at Bly. "Bly, you will start the advance towards Niango while I'm away," she ordered, turning to her right hand man.

The clone commander was about to protest her decision, but stopped. He knew that his general was stubborn, and was his commanding officer. In the end she would just do what she wanted, so he saved himself the headache.

"I understand. I have the Alpha squad ready. If you aren't back in a hour, I will send them after you, ma'am," Bly said instead. Galle, the leader of the squad immediately radioed the rest to get ready.

"Make it two hours," Aayla replied. "Who knows how long I'll have to search for the source."

"Alright, two hours." Bly nodded as the meeting ended.

Stepping out of the command post, they stood in the middle of a busy encampment, with hundreds hurrying around just in their line of sight. Aayla quickly made her way to one of the store houses. She picked up a few ration bars and a full canteen, before heading to the edge of the camp. Bly and Galle looked on as she vanished into the jungle.

"It will be a long two hours," Galle said. They were all professionals, but couldn't help to hold their commander in high esteem. She was brave and stubborn, yet listened to their advice and helped them, and she considered them more than just tools to use. There were some in command who had none of those qualities.

"Get yourself and your squad ready to leave in a hour, Captain," Bly replied.

Galle looked at his superior taken aback. "She won't be happy with you when she comes back."

"No, she won't," Bly admitted.

* * *

Aayla moved through the jungle fast. It was fairly simple with her enhanced senses. Being a Twi'lek she was also more tolerant to both the heat and vapour than humans. Not by an overly large margin, but enough to show up every now and then.

Arriving at the edge of the valley Aayla slowed down. She couldn't see anything out of ordinary. Yet, she sensed that the source of the disturbance in the Force was near. Now, this close to it, she was more and more sure 'it' was a sentient being.

That was troubling. She knew that there were no other Jedi on the planet. The shamans of the native tribes had different 'signatures' in the Force. She was also nearly certain that it wasn't a Sith or dark Jedi. Not only she was confident that she could at least suspect, if not sense, one being on the planet, this disturbance felt nothing like her few meetings with Count Dooku or Asajj Ventress.

She shook her head. There was no use in dwelling on things like that. As Master Yoda said, she must focus on the here and now. The past was done and the future uncertain.

It didn't take long for her to arrive at a clearing where the source should be. Looking around she noticed one of the fungi tree, on the other side of the clearing, had several hand and footholds carved into. At the top there was a humanoid figure most likely searching for something. Obviously he didn't know that he was in a valley, making the climbing a pointless endeavour.

She walked around, hiding in the forest, making sure to never lose sight of the figure at the top. She nearly let out a giggle at how he climbed back to the ground. It was clear that he wasn't experienced at either climbing or Force jumping.

The figure turned out to be a man. A human male of her age, a quite distinctive one in fact. He was about a hundred and ninety centimeters tall and decently muscular. His ebony hair reached his shoulders. He wore reasonably practical clothes. Sadly he was sideway to her, so she couldn't see more. Only that he was also tired, since he let out a sigh before taking a deep gulp from his canteen.

What she didn't expect was how the Force reacted to his presence. She was certain that only a few in the Order could ever hope to match the man in front of her. He wasn't like Skywalker, who was best described as a storm, he was like a star.

A part of Aayla thought of the possibility of him being the Dark Lord, but she also knew how low the chance was. The mysterious Darth Sidious, as they learned not long ago, manipulated the Senate for over two decades, maybe longer. The human in front of her couldn't be much older than her, meaning he was a teenager, a younger one at that, when Sidious first appeared.

"Troubled?" Aayla asked as the man let out another sigh. His head turned towards her so fast she was worried for a second if he hurt himself. His face would have been considered handsome in the traditional way, like Bail Organa or Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Aayla also noticed a little detail. His eyes. She traveled around the galaxy, had seen several strange and beautiful sights, but couldn't remember ever seeing almond shaped, emerald eyes on a human. She came back to her senses quickly, embarrassed at being lost in those eyes. Thankfully he seemed to be just as astonished by her appearance. Aayla knew that she was beautiful, but never thought much about it. It was only a minor aspect of her, after all. So she was, mostly, patient when someone stared at her, but the man in front of her did so long that she couldn't help but to cough to get his attention.

When Harry turned around he thought himself ready for nearly anything. Even so, when he had seen this being in front of him he couldn't control himself. She was wholly alien with her skin being the color of a blue English sky, the little horns on the side of her head in the place of ears and two tentacles, he guessed, on the top back of her head reaching the small of her back. The skin tight leather top and trouser combo only added to her exotic beauty. She was tall, slim built with just the right amount of muscle showing. Her golden eyes studied him carefully, like she wanted him to do something, but Harry had no idea of what that could be.

He had seen many things in the Wizarding World, yet nothing as alien as her. Maybe it was the skin tone, maybe it was the tentacles, he honestly didn't know. She was also incredibly familiar. She was humanoid and as tall as a human. As a matter of fact, her whole body resembled a human one!

She spoke in English, which both confused and filled him with hope. Harry wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to happen, but at least he found another sentient being! One who looked at him with great interest, but still... Her cough brought him out of his musing. Embarrassedly, he noticed that he stared at her for way longer than appropriate. Deciding that he could at least try some damage control he said, "Sorry. I... well, I haven't seen someone like you. Like ever." Harry winced at that. He never claimed to be smoothest talker, but he was usually better than this.

"Ah." The answer seemed to confuse her. "My apologies for disturbing you, but you seemed lost. If you want I can help you."

While she seemed genuine, Harry was on the receiving end of several helpful offer turning into something else. "Thank you, but how about getting to know each other first?" he proposed instead.

"Alright," she said with a nod, agreeing for the moment. "I'm Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight," she introduced herself as she bowed a little towards him, which he clumsily reciprocated.

He hoped that she wasn't like the Japanese. He was always worried if he broke some social norm or not. On the other hand, he was very curious of what a Jedi was. "Nice to meet you, Aayla," he said slowly, trying her name out. "I'm Harry Potter, a wizard." He expected either mirth or a disbelieving stare, but neither happened.

Aayla looked at him with understanding in her eyes. She sat on the trunk of the fallen tree and looked at him. "I honestly didn't think I would encounter someone like you," she said. "What you use isn't magic, it's the Force." Harry raised an eyebrow at her referring magic as the 'Force', but let her continue. "You have the ability to connect to the Force, an energy field that envelops the universe to do seemingly impossible feats." She looked at him, clearly asking if he had anything to add.

"I know that already," Harry calmly replied. "We could sit there for a very long time discussing if either naming the energy field as the 'Force' or as 'magic' is proper, but I have a much less philosophical problem. Where exactly are we?"

"You mean, you don't know where you are?" Aayla asked back. It was strange and either he was the worst liar, or was knocked out and dropped of to die in the jungle and awoke with amnesia. "You are about fifty kilometer to the south of Niango."

"Niango is a city, I presume?" Harry asked back. He nearly sighed aloud. He knew that the chance of hearing a familiarly sounding location was extremely low, but he had hoped, against all odds, that it would happen. Naiv, he knew.

"You don't know the name of one of the largest settlements on the planet?" Aayla was dumbfounded for a minute, but her theory of an amnesia seemed to be proven. She knew that he couldn't be from any other planets, since any ship approaching would have been shot down, either by them or the Separatists. He couldn't have been here longer than them, since his clothes were far too clean and in good condition. Not to mention that Felucia wasn't exactly the safest place in the Outer-Rim. Though, if he had some control over his affinity to the Force, it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities to survive long enough.

"I'm not exactly sure of the name of the planet I'm on," Harry replied. He wasn't in the position to lie or refuse answers. He needed help, even if he was declared crazy for his story. "I was caught in an explosion and I woke up here."

"Alright. What's the name of the planet you were on?" Aayla asked. So he was attacked then dropped off on Felucia. He did indeed survive longer than she expected. It was by no means an easy feat even with Force abilities.

"Earth or Terra," Harry said, watching closely for her reaction, but she seemed unaffected by his words.

"Never heard of either name," the Twi'lek Jedi replied, after a moment of going through the list of the planet near Felucia. She had a habit, like most Jedi, of reading about the neighboring systems to know the local political relationships, but she couldn't recall ever hearing those names. Either by association of Felucia or any other planet in the Republic. "I assume that your planet isn't part of the Republic..." She looked at Harry, who looked cluelessly back.

"What Republic?"

"I see. Your planet is most likely in the Wild Space. You speak the Basic fairly well though," Aayla said aloud, mostly to herself. "I will try and help you, but there is a chance that the Council of the Jedi Order would like to speak to you."

"I will meet them if needed," Harry replied, choosing his words carefully. Aayla seemed nice enough, but it didn't mean anything. Even if it wasn't just an act, it didn't mean that this 'Jedi Order' would just let him go on his way.

"Do not worry," Aayla said as if reading his thoughts. "We don't want to harm you, just talk."

Harry just nodded in thanks, not really knowing how to respond to this. From his experience there were few organization that would 'just talk' to someone.

"Since it obvious that you don't know where you are, I'll explain a few basic facts that you need to know," Aayla continued. "You're on the planet Felucia in the Outer-Rim territories, which means the edge of the Galactic Republic and sometimes the galaxy itself. I serve as a General in the Galactic Republic's Army in the war against the Confederation of Independent System." She waited for a moment for it to sink in before going on.

Harry could only curse his bad luck. Apparently he was in the middle of a warzone.

"You have an impressive connection to the Force. One of the strongest in recent history I think..." the Twi'lek continued, only to be interrupted.

"Which will lead factions trying to recruit me to their cause," Harry finished. "That is why your Order will want to speak with me, isn't it?"

"Yes and no." To her credit Aayla didn't even attempted to hide this fact. "We would never force you into our ranks, if it means anything."

"A little for now. And I suspect that there are other factions using the 'Force'. At least one on the other side of this war," the lost man speculated. Seeing Aayla questioning stare he elaborate, "It isn't that hard to guess. If nothing else there are bound to be some members who don't like your organization and turned rogue."

"That did happen, but only a few. Our true enemy is the Order of Sith," Aayla replied, "However, I think it will have to wait to explain more of the history of the Order. Let's stay with the basics."

"Yes. I think I should mention that I have no idea of what you are" he blurted out uncomfortably, yet he was curious. Although, it seemed rude to just ask 'What are you?'.

"Oh." Aayla's cheeks turned a darker shade of blue. "I'm a Rutian Twi'lek from the planet Ryloth."

'She is blushing!' Harry realized to his amazement. "Rutian?" he asked.

"It refers to my skin color. It is the second rarest among my people. Only the Lethan, the ones with red skin are rarer," the embarrassed Twi'lek said, sounding a bit surprised at explaining this.

Harry was pretty sure that it happened rarely to her. "I see," he said, and then went back to the original subject. "You mentioned two... governments? The Galactic Republic and Confederation of Independent Systems, right? Could you tell me about them?" he asked, but also knowing that he won't get a very objective answer since Aayla was an officer in the Republic's army.

"The Galactic Republic is made up from more than a million planet. Most of the galaxy was part of it before the war. The Separatists claimed that the Republic was too corrupt and wanted to secede from it."

"Is that true?" Harry asked, before she could continue.

"Which part?" Aayla asked back.

"Was the Republic corrupt?" the messy-haired man clarified.

"We had problem with it, yes," the Twi'lek admitted, "but not to the extent the Separatist claim. Not to mention that most of the corruption came from them when they were part of the Republic."

Before Harry could ask another question Aayla went rigid. Her eyes became unfocused, staring into the forest.

"Aayla! Are you alright?" Harry could have kicked himself as soon as he asked that question. It was obvious that she wasn't alright.

"Yes... No... I don't know," the young Jedi Knight answered. "Something happened... I have to get back to the camp!"

Harry opened his mouth to ask her how exactly she knew that something happened, but before he could say anything his danger sense went off. He turned halfway to the right casting a shield charm, while praying for it to form correctly. The blue half dome erected just in time to deflect two red blast coming from the jungle. Looking to his right, he could see that Aayla was without injury. She stood at his side with what Harry could only describe as two blue energy sword in her hands.

They stepped out from the concealment in the jungle. The men, well Harry presumed from their forms that they were human males or something very similar, were wearing white armor and futuristic guns and rifles. They were in pairs, one to slightly to Harry's right, and the other about thirty paces to the left of them.

"Captain Galle! What's the meaning of this?" the surprised General asked.

"I'm sorry General, but we have our orders," the man's voice was truly apologetic. "Please lower your weapons, and I will make it as quick and painless as possible."

"I see," Aayla barely whispered those words, before dashed forward with impressive speed.

The soldiers tried to shoot her, but the Twi'lek easily avoided them or deflected the blast with her swords. The soldiers tried to distance themselves by going backwards, but she was upon them fast. Her blades cut through them easily. The other two tried to shoot her from the side, but she was alert and shielded herself with her swords.

That was when Harry joined the fight. Truthfully he was shocked at Aayla's action and ability. Not to mention that he had contemplated over which side to choose for a moment. It wasn't a hard decision to make. He at least knew Aayla a little bit, and these men didn't seem to have any reason aside from orders to shoot her.

Harry sent a Reductor Curse at one, and a Sectumsempra at the other. His curse was too powerful and it sent the soldier to the side of one of the colossal fungi trees. A clear snap was heard as the soldier's neck broke. He internally winced: it would have been great if one of them survived. He assumed that his armor would at least protect him a bit. But again his priority was his and Aayla's survival not theirs. The other wasn't any luckier as he got three major cuts across his chest, one on his throat and many minor ones appearing on his body.

"That was a bit excessive," Aayla commented, stepping next to him and sounding a bit disapproving.

"I didn't mean to, my spells just seem to be this powerful here," Harry replied sincerely, before pointing at the body of the one, who was hurled at the tree. "I wanted to only knock that one out. I seem to be having a problem with my control on this planet."

Aayla just nodded, before going in the direction which she and the soldiers had come from. Sensing that Harry followed her, she glanced back, but said nothing after studying his face for a moment.

Their trek back to the Republic camp was quiet, Aayla was clearly not in the mood to speak of anything aside of warning Harry where he should step, unless he wants to be one of the plants' lunch.

When they arrived at the edge of the jungle, Harry had his first look at the camp. It was full of dozens of easily constructed steel buildings, and many more military tents. There were war machines ranging from a bipedal, a one pilot walkers, to an eight wheeled goliath of a tank, easily bigger than a family house back on Earth. There were hundreds of soldiers, either in armor or uniform, going on with their usual routine. One group however stood closer to them. The man leading them had a shoulder pauldron and golden markings.

Aayla purposely walked towards him. All of them stood still as Harry and the Jedi made their way closer. The wizard noticed that several other groups stopped doing what they had been doing, and also stepped closer to them.

"General," the officer stated as he looked at the approaching pair. "It seems Captain Galle failed with his assignment."

"What is the meaning of those orders, Bly?" Aayla asked coldly.

"The Jedi are our enemy now, General."

"Aayla!" Harry shouted, seeing the main weapons of two of the six leg walkers and one of the tanks pointing at them. He wasn't confident that he could stop their shots, even if he had his wand in his hand. He could only try one thing. Grabbing Aayla, he apparated just before the three shots exploded where they stood a moment earlier.

Aayla never felt anything like it before. It was like she was pushed through an extremely tight hole, which wanted to pull her apart. It didn't hurt, but was so uncomfortable that her stomach and head needed a minute before she felt safe enough to look around. They were back at the clearing where they met. Looking at the man beside her, she could see that Harry was nearly as badly affected as her.

He was breathing deeply and sweat was pouring down his face, all the while he was clutching his stomach.

"Thank you for saving my life," Aayla sincerely thanked her companion. "Is it always this sickening?" the female Twi'lek asked. She had to admit it was an useful ability, but the side effects were horrible.

"No." Harry shook his head, hands on his knees, out of breath. "That was even worse than my first apparation," he paused for a second, "though this time it was soundless."

"Like with your Force sorcery?" Aayla asked, indicating to the bodies at the edge of the clearing.

Harry, who wasn't in the mood to question her terminology, just nodded and said, "Yeah, something like that." He looked at the blue-skinned woman. "What happened back there? They were your soldiers, right?"

"They said that the Jedi Order is their enemy," Aayla replied sadly. "There is only one person who could command them against us..."

"Who?" Harry asked, fearing the answer.

"Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the President of the Republic, which would mean that he is in league with the Sith, just as Dooku said."

"Dooku?"

"Count Dooku is a former Jedi Master, and is now the leader of the Separatists. He said that the Senate was in the hand of the Sith. We didn't believe it to be true, let alone literally," the Twi'lek answered sadly, not wanting to believe it even now.

"Why?"

"Because, that would have meant that we weren't able to see, when we are the advisors to the Senate!"

"Well, the best lie is the truth, if someone except you to lie," he pointed out to the woman. "Aayla, if the soldier said your Order is the enemy..."

"Yes," Aayla said, her voice full of pain. "It means that they attacked all of them along with us." She looked at the ground her hands clenched into a fists. "This betrayal... I don't think many would be able to survive."

It clicked in Harry's mind. He still had the time-turner from Hermione! Not caring for the wide-eyed Aayla, he enlarged the trunk, pulled out the tent and set it up. He made a quick turn into the bedroom, since the time-turner was on his nightstand. Just as quickly as he set it up, he tore down the tent and minified the chest.

"I think we will need to talk about your spells," a shaken Aayla said. Clearly she had never seen anything like this before.

"We'll have time for that later," Harry replied, waving off the unspoken question. "For now, I have a solution for that betrayal..." seeing Aayla incredulous stare, he elaborated, "We can use this..." he held the hourglass high, "...to travel back in time." If possible Aayla became even less convinced. Harry just sighed, "Look. We don't have any other choice, so can we just try it?"

"Alright." Aayla was hesitant as Harry placed the chain of the artifact around their necks, but at least she went along with his plan.

Harry looked at the time-turner remembering that it was nearly empty. He was right. Most likely all of the sand will be used for this jump in time.

Aayla was shocked. It shouldn't be possible, but yet she could see everything reserve itself to what was obviously several hours before the command meeting. The sun was far from reaching its height in fact. They had at least three, but more likely four, hours before the attack.

"Will you be able to sense us from your camp?" Harry asked the Twi'lek woman.

Aayla just shook her head, before numbly replying, "I was out scouting the enemy with Bly. I'm not good enough to sense us that far, we should be able to get it done before I arrive. Then we won't have to worry about it."

"I'll Apparate us to near the camp."

Aayla wasn't keen on a repeat of her first experience with that particular ability, but time was of essence here. Another uncomfortable jump later, if a bit less so than the first one, they found themselves at about two hundred meters from the camp.

Harry tried out two spells, the disillusionment charm and the soundless charm. He needed a couple of tries, but when he had them down, he applied the spells to their bodies and feet respectively.

Getting into the camp itself wasn't that hard. There were sentries and a few patrols, but Aayla knew their schedules. Along with the fact that all of them were on low alert, and the two spells Harry used on them helped. They got into the main communication building, which was in the middle of the camp, in under ten minutes. Fortunately, there was a communication's room just for the Jedi and high-ranking officers, which was empty at the time.

Aayla quickly locked the door, and then asked Harry to dispel his magic. As soon as she was visible and audible, she opened up a secure channel to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Another woman, slightly older outwardly and wearing a brown and beige tunic, appeared on the holo screen. She was humanoid, only with red skin with a few patches of white on her face; on her head she had two hornlike dark blue, striped white excrescences with a tail like appendage, which was similar to Aayla's own head tentacles. The screen may distort her a bit, but Harry figured her to be in her late thirties, early forties. The woman eyes traveled briefly to Harry, before focusing on Aayla.

"Master Shaak Ti." The respect which Aayla used with this woman told Harry that she had a very high standing, at least in Aayla's opinion if not of the Jedi Order as whole, which would also explain why she contacted her and not someone else. "I bring terrible news. In less than four hours from now, the clone troopers will turn against us."

"How do you know of this Aayla?" asked Shaak Ti, whose face had showed a brief flash of fear that near instantly disappeared as she suppressed it. Her gaze again traveled towards Aayla's companion, but she didn't commented on him.

"The Force sent a vision, Master."

Harry could feel one of his eyebrows lifting, but before he spoke he realized that maybe this wasn't the time for going into the topic of his arrival. First, because there was really no time for that. Secondly, he, himself, wasn't sure of what happened. He had theories, but one seemed less likely than the other. 'Great, I'm starting to sound like Dumbledore!' he thought, not that he didn't respect the old wizard, but he was a bit young to be so sage-like like him.

"I believe you," nodded the Jedi Master, bowing her head in deep sorrow. "Master Windu left a short while ago with Master Kolar, Master Tiin and... Master Fisto, to apprehend Chancellor Palpatine. We have evidence that he is the Sith Lord, and he has been for this entire war. It was his scheme to attain power. If what you say is true we have to assume that they failed."

"No!" breathed Aayla, fear surging through her body.

Harry could only assume that she was distraught by the suspected demise of her kinsmen, rather than the chancellor being a Sith Lord.

"What you said verifies it Aayla," replied Shaak Ti, but she was obviously shaken as well. "The fog that the Dark Side has cast upon us has started to lift. I haven't been able to sense the Force's will this clearly since my days as a padawan, and the Force suggests to me that I should listen to you. We will bring the younglings to a secret sanctuary, known only to a few of us. They will go through secret passages that have been hidden for thousands of years, only to be used in dire needs. If no one else survives, they will. I will make sure of it. I will alert as many Jedi as I can. Do you have a way to escape the planet?"

"No," replied the Twi'lek girl with her hand on her chin, "We will try and obtain one from one of the cities. I won't be able to send message after this, Master Ti. Please, don't try to send one until the betrayal is done."

"Understood, Aayla. May the Force be with you!"

"May the Force be with us all, Master," came the solemn reply. With that Shaak Ti's form flickered out of existence. Aayla quickly pressed a few buttons. Sensing Harry stare at her back, she answered the unasked question, "I'm deleting this transmission from the log."

"Does it mean that they, the soldiers, won't be able to see it?" Harry was better versed in the mundane technology than most wizard, but knew only a few very basics.

Aayla nodded a bit. "Yes, well, if they don't have a good hacker, who can get all the information out of the system."

"What's our next move?" the wizard asked. He had plans, well ideas really, as to what they should do next, but Aayla knew how everything around here worked. And when you fight for your life, you listen to those who know better.

"Firstly, we should collect my personal belongings from my room," she said as they quickly exited the room, after Harry reapplying the spells. Those spells came in handy as several officers and soldiers walking past them at the next corner, talking about 'AT-TEs', which Harry could only guess was a military code or something.

After taking several turns, going up two floors and then to the right, they arrived at Aayla's room. After glancing around the room, he immediately acknowledged it as VIP a room. It had a big and comfortable bed in contrast the simple bunk the soldiers must use. Despite of that, the room was surprisingly spartan. As far as he could tell, there was nothing really substantial, decorative or personal in the room, but he wasn't so sure that he would know it even if there was. Harry enlarged the chest, retrieved two shoulder bags and handed one to Aayla.

She curiously examined it as she took it into her hand. The surface was covered in silvery blue scales while the inside was high grade textile. It was obviously more feminine than Harry's, which was a simple brown leather one, making Aayla assume that it was maybe a female friend's, girlfriend's or a family member, but due to their haste she didn't ask on it.

"It's bottomless. You can put anything inside and it will still be just as light as it is now. If you need what you already packed just put your hand inside, concentrate on what you want and it will come to you," he explained.

Only her eyes widening showed her surprise at the new inexplicable item Harry had on himself. Out the corner of her eyes, she watched Harry waiting for him to laugh as she started packing. As it proved true, she was angry at herself for being that shortsighted. It was unambiguous that Harry fully understood the seriousness of their situation and didn't fool around. Fortunately, she didn't have that much with her, so they finished in only a few minutes with Harry making things smaller much to her amazement. Having few things that she found necessary for herself soon all of it was inside either shoulder bag.

"Where are we going, Aayla?" inquired Harry as they stepped out of the room.

"To one of the store rooms," replied the Twi'lek as she navigated them through the base. "I don't know how long we will need to be on the run, but better be prepared than not."

Before that though, they made their way near the Armory, which Harry wanted to see. The guard was easily fooled, Aayla just raised her hand and the soldier seemed to ignore the opening of the door.

"That's a neat trick you got there," he mentioned as they made their way into the back of the building.

"A mind trick," Aayla said with a shrug, "We usually don't use it unless it's necessary. It's one of the most heated topic among the Order. Well, that was before the War."

"Would I be correct in assuming that it isn't that easy to fool anyone?" the displaced man asked. The Imperious Curse or the Confundus Charm could be broken by sheer willpower, himself being one of the fine example of that.

"Yes. But the soldiers being clones, they're easier to deal with," Aayla replied.

"You mean they're really clones?" He was amazed at her confirmation. He didn't really pay attention to the mundanes attempts, but knew that magicals had several problems doing it. One or two organs were relatively easy to do, but a whole body was out of their reach.

His focus shifted to the armor along the wall. There were several types and sizes. He wasn't about to use them, not an entire suit at least. However, if this is what their enemy used, he wanted to know the armor's weakest point, both literally and figuratively. He also took one of their rifles for the same reason.

Aayla then led him out of the building and went towards the edge of the camp. The building was large and no one seemed to be around. There were several tools for repair and spare components around one of the large walkers in the middle. At the back there were dozens, if not hundreds, of crates.

The Jedi Knight explained that these were the food, water and medical supplies for the clones and officers. Yellow colored meant fresh food for officers, while the blue were the ration slices and green the medicine. One blue crate was enough to feed a squad for a week . Harry immediately took one green, one yellow and two blue.

Making their way to the very edge of the camp, they came across a series of thin vehicles, which looked hovering motorcycles.

"What do you say about going on a speeder?" asked Aayla with a small smirk on her face, to which he just shrugged. In one swift motion she was on its seat and glancing at Harry.

Harry was a bit hesitant as he sat behind her, since he couldn't find any good handhold. He couldn't grab onto her shoulders, since that was really distracting. Hermione did that sometimes when they had gone broom riding together and it wasn't fun at all. Softly sighing, he embraced her middle, casting a silencing charm at the same time.

Aayla smirked at him feeling how tense he was. "Don't worry! I'm pretty good at this."

"Won't they notice that it's gone?" asked Harry with a raised eyebrow, ignoring her words.

"There's always something that's left behind. Once they nearly left one of the LAATs. I've rarely seen Bly as angry as that time," said the Twi'lek with a little smirk, for a moment forgetting their precarious situation. "I'm fairly sure that it would take them a few hours at least to notice that it isn't on one of the ships." With that she started the engine.

He was glad that he casted the silencing charm since the speeder was loud, really loud. The silencing charm didn't silence the target, only quieted it. A second later it shot out. Harry would guess that they were going at the same speed as a Firebolt. Fortunately, Aayla slowed down as they got into the jungle, even with a rather wide path leading out the base.

They went to the south-east, at least Harry guessed that that was the direction they were headed. They quickly left behind the shallow valley where he originally arrived. For several minutes he just stared at the forest around him, though at this speed he couldn't really see anything. That was when he noticed that the jungle seemed to thicken, if possible.

After several minutes, Aayla took a sharp turn directly into the jungle. She was quite good at it, just as she said, seemingly evading the trees and other obstacles in their path on instinct. Just as Harry wanted to ask where they were heading, she started to slow down and then stopped as they arrived near to a small stream.

Harry guessed they were about a hundred or so kilometer from the base, judging by their speed, and the time it took for them to arrive. Looking around he was pretty content with what he saw. There were an ideal spot for his tent between a trio of middle sized fungi tree. While he wasn't sure if he liked how near the stream it was and just what exactly will come here for food or drink, he trusted Aayla's judgement.

Getting off the speeder bike, Harry slowly walked to the spot he wanted to set up their camp, making sure to look out for any danger. When he asked Aayla to stand guard, she was amused, though he had no idea why.

Setting up the tent wasn't that hard, thanks to the use of the runes on it. After only a minute the tent was up and ready for use. Harry stood aside, holding the entrance open for Aayla to step inside.

The Jedi Knight sent him an unsure look, to which the wizard only responded with a slight smile. Stepping inside she couldn't help the surprised gasp upon seeing the interior. From the outside the tent seemed large enough for two people, three if you were content with being tightly pressed together. From the inside it resembled a small house.

"It isn't as large as some of the others, but it will do. There's the bathroom and bedroom," Harry said, following her inside. "I'll make sure that no one can detect us. Feel free to explore." With that he went back outside, leaving Aayla alone.

Looking around she could see that she was in a large room connected to a simple kitchen with two doors leading to the other rooms Harry mentioned. It was simple, yet homely with a few pictures here and there.

She didn't start looking around the place. Instead she sat down in the middle of the room and meditated on what she knew will soon happen. Never once has something like this happened to her. To know exactly what will happen, it should have made things easier, but it did not.

She felt her anxiety rising again and again. She tried not to think on if Master Shaak Ti was able to warn the Order in time. That was when it happened. She couldn't help it; she collapsed as she felt the pain surging through the Force.

Thousands cried out then disappeared. It was like all the stars vanished from the sky and she was alone in the whole galaxy. Luckily Harry, who just stepped in the tent, ran to her and lifted her in his arms. Swiftly he went into the bedroom, where he laid her on the bed and sat on its edge.

Aayla grasped him in alarm, but Harry soothed her. "I'll only take off my boots and yours." the Jedi Knight only nodded, her eyes full of unshed tears. He didn't waste a moment, a second later he was barefooted and in the next so was she. He quickly laid beside the young Jedi and gathered her in his arms. He wasn't good at this. Besides, what did you tell a woman who lost nearly everything that mattered to her?

"Shhh, let it go. You can't have it bottled up, Aayla." He could only be there for her like this. Silent and supportive.

Aayla couldn't help it, she started crying. She tried to come on terms with it, but it still hurt. She was alone in the galaxy. Her friends, brothers and sisters in all but blood, died that day by the betrayal of their comrades. A shiver runs through her.

Sensing it Harry wrapped her more tightly to his chest.

A sliver of a smile found its way to Aayla face. No, she wasn't alone. Not completely.


	2. 2 Out of the jungle

AN1: Sorry for the long wait! I wanted to take turns with my other fanfic. It didn't turn out as I intended as I could only write 2500 words for it in two weeks! (I played with it a bit after that so my muse is alright now.)

AN2: Thank you Fairywm for beta reading this chapter! Your help is greatly appreciated!

* * *

Chapter II

 _Out of the Jungle  
_

 **Galactic Republic, Outer Rim Territories, Felucia, 16. 10. 13.**

Aayla stiffened as she came back from her slumber. She felt a pair of arms wrapped protectively around her waist and that was definitely male body pressing to hers. When she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into the emerald eyes of a man. The memories of yesterday quickly came back as she scooted to the other side of the bed.

Harry, the man who saved her the day before, sat up and looked at her with understanding in his eyes. "You can have the bathroom first. I'll go and make breakfast," the sleep mussed man offered as he got out of the bed, hoping to make her more comfortable with him.

Aayla silently responded with a nod.

He left her in his room, knowing that she at least was uncomfortable how close they were. He was there when she needed someone to hold her, but they only knew each other for a day. ' _We jumped several steps,'_ he thought with a wince. Things between him and the woman will be awkward for a while. If he was lucky they can sit down and speak about it.

Harry finished preparing the food after a few minutes. Just as he thought about going back to see if she was ready for the day, the Twi'lek appeared out of the bedroom. Harry was glad that she didn't lock herself up, like he did after Sirius' death. ' _Well, she is a decade older than how old I was when that happened.'_

"Thank you," Aayla said quietly as she started to eat her breakfast. They didn't speak until the last crumb disappeared.

Then Harry cleared his throat, causing her to look up from her plate. "Aayla, I apologize for last night. I didn't want to abuse your trust."

"Thank you," the sad Twi'lek replied softly. Then she shook her head and added, "However, you don't need to feel sorry. I needed someone. And I trust you. It may be the Force, or my instincts … I don't know exactly why, but I do trust you. It's just..." she said lamely as she gathered up her plate.

"Not enough to hold you," Harry finished, gently smiling at her as he took the dish from her hand.

"I... I'm not used to it," Aayla admitted as she folded her hands in her lap, clearly uncomfortable with the reminder of how close they were. "It felt nice though," she added as an afterthought.

"I'm glad that you feel better," he said as he put the dishes to wash in the sink. And then paused before hesitantly continuing, "I know we don't know each other well, but if you want to talk about it..." he left the sentence hanging, but Aayla understood him.

"I appreciate it, but I will be okay." The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow at that. She seemed so certain of it. She wasn't human that was true, but he suspected she had a similar thought process and mentality. "They have became one with the Force. I will come to terms with it," she stated as her face became firm to show that she would do just that.

"Is that what your Order, the Jedi, believe? That they merge with that energy field you use?" Harry asked back, sitting back in his chair and looking at her with a tilt of his head.

"Yes. Though we _know_ it to be true, rather than simply believe," she replied, emphasising the word 'know', just so he understood that it was a fact.

"How so?" He questioned. There was of course some who believed the same back on Earth, but no one knew for sure.

"Those who have a greater connection with the Force can see those who already passed away. They come to them and give them advice." Aayla explained patiently.

Harry hummed thoughtfully. "Like a ghost?" he asked, wondering if it was the same.

"Yes, even if the Order doesn't like that name," the Twi'lek said as she nodded in agreement, though she did wrinkle her nose at the word.

Harry fell silent as he thought about it. If you knew that death only meant to return where you came from – at least that was how the Jedi seemed to think about it – or even just the beginning of the 'next Great Adventure' as Dumbledore put it, then death wasn't that disturbing. Even so, this wasn't just the death of one of her old mentors dying of old age. This was a betrayal by their allies causing the remainder of the Jedi Order to flee to the corners of the Galaxy for their lives. He knew that whatever she said, she won't be able to deal with what happened just like that.

' _For now I should just back off. I always can help her if it seems she can't accept it by herself,'_ he thought while trying to steer the conservation into a new direction. "What should we do now?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"I don't want to go into any of the cities," Aayla replied, frowning at the idea. "I'm pretty sure that there would be clones. I'd rather not endanger our cover."

"Maybe I can help with it," the wizard suggested. "I know a couple of spells that could be used to help us blend in."

"Alright, but we'll go to one of the cities and try get a ship to take us away," the blue-skinned woman replied. "It's a pity that we don't have enough money to buy a starship," she sighed, knowing that without funds they would have to turn to something immoral.

"You can fly one of those?" Harry asked, surprised at the notion of it. He knew little about Earth's spacecrafts, but the one fact he did know was that you needed very special training just to sit in one. He knew that here the technology was far more advanced, but was still surprised that someone so young was a pilot.

"Of course. It isn't that complicated." Aayla shrugged, obviously not seeing anything strange with what she said.

Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Alright, then you can teach me after we get our own. I may have a way to provide money. Taking that aside how do you plan to leave this planet if we don't go into the cities? Do you have a friend who can help us or something?" he asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Not exactly," she admitted, then she thought of something else so they wouldn't have to go to a city. "I just remembered, there's an abandoned mining site not that far from here," she said with a smile that they wouldn't go to where there were people or clones. "There might be an old starship that I can repair."

"You can do that too?" he said, completely gobsmacked.

"Yes, I'm pretty good mechanic," she boasted, laughing at Harry's expression. Now there was a hopeful look on her face as well. It was an excellent idea, if they could pull it off. "Not to mention that if the site is in good enough shape, we could use it as a shelter. No offense, but I don't particularly feel safe in a tent."

"Well, without the wards it's no better protection than any other tent," agreed the wizard reluctantly. He knew there was no guarantee how long the wards will last. "But, if they work my wards are better than anything technology could do. Well, what they could do on my home planet..." he trailed off with thoughtful look on his face.

"And perhaps here as well," blue-skinned woman said easily. She had seen the man doing some amazing things, so she was ready to accept that he can do better than what she was accustomed to. That didn't mean that she was entirely comfortable relying solely on it. "Couldn't we combine the two?" she asked.

"It won't be easy, there was an entire division in our Research and Development Department that was working on it. I'll have to be extremely precise with my rune work and can't add too much to a piece," Harry said with a frown. Seeing Aayla disappointed face he quickly amended, "I'll try, but it will take me some time."

"Thank you," she said with relief in her voice. If he could pull that off then it would be a great boon, since they would have an advantage over the enemy. "We should go as soon as possible," she added, looking at the light coming through the tent flap.

Harry nodded in agreement. They had a lot of work to do. He mainly needed to learn the basic knowledge about a whole galaxy. They got up and went to where their weapons and equipment were. As he sheathed his knife on his belt, his gaze traveled to the rifle he took from the armory. When he asked Aayla about bringing it, she looked dubiously at him.

"Have you ever used a blaster?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Well, I have handled a gun before, and I did shoot it." He tried a gun out once in Canada on an assignment. From the look on her face, Aayla obviously wanted a bit more accurate information so he reluctantly elaborated, "I hit the target a few times."

"You should leave it here if you don't have much experience with them. They can be dangerous in the inexperienced hands," the Twi'lek warned him, causing his face to fall. Then her face softened and she added, "Besides, there shouldn't be anyone there and you are better with your _magic_."

"True enough," he said as he brightened up. He was very good at defensive magic.

They packed up and made their way outside, and just like yesterday, it was Aayla who piloted the speeder. Harry would have loved to sit at the front, but he neither knew the way to their destination, nor how the speeder worked. It took nearly an hour to reach the mining site in a valley at about two hundred kilometers from their camp.

When they got there Harry looked around at the deserted place. There were two buildings, opposite to each other. One of them seemed decades old, he noted. It was a rusty garage and warehouse combination. The other was the complete contrast of it. It was new, if a bit worn out, most of the metal was still glittering as the sun rays hit it. In the background there was a cave with a cliff above it, in which the mining operated out of.

The entire place seemed deserted, but Harry had been through enough to know something wasn't right. They were in the middle of a jungle and no sound was heard. That alone was enough for him to be on the edge. Yet, when he cast a spell to see if anyone was nearby, he got nothing.

"This shouldn't be there," said Aayla, inspecting a vehicle that looked like a forklift that would be built in a hundred or so years on Earth. "There wasn't any legal mining operations here in the last decade. That's a T7 loading vehicle, its production started only seven or eight years ago. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't on this planet longer than a year. This one seems quite new to me."

"Just like this corpse," said Harry, pointing at the entrance of the new building. There was the torso of a green-skinned humanoid. He thought that the lack of breast indicated to it being a male, but couldn't be sure. It lost one of its arms, its eyes and everything under its stomach. The insects clearly had started to eat it, since Harry could see hundreds of them still working on it and leaving only the bones there.

"A Rodian," said Aayla as she led him into the building. "Stay on guard. He died in the last three-four days, at the latest. I don't think that whoever or whatever did this is near but..."

"...better safe than sorry," nodded the alert wizard. "There's yellowish blood on the floor and the walls, but it doesn't seem come from the corpses," he noted, pointing to said blood with a grimace.

"It came from the Felucians. They're the ones who attacked the miners. Their sacred burial-ground is on the cliff and they won't have it disturbed no matter the cost. That's why it become illegal to mine here, but if we leave it alone we should be safe," Aayla explained, but she herself went rigid for a moment.

"Should be?" asked Harry warily.

"I don't really like it, but we will need to search every room. Should we separate?" the Twi'lek asked, looking around the room.

"I don't see why not," shrugged the wizard as he cast a spell again. "I'm certain that there isn't anyone in our immediately area."

Aayla just shook her head as she started walking to the right. Harry looked after her for a little bit, and then went to the other side of the building.

The first two rooms held nothing of value, only crashed over seats and tables, but the third had an activated holographic map of the Galaxy with a few dead bodies over it. It seemed like they calculated which planet would be the most profitable to sell what they mined here, if the different planets and the prices written there were any indication.

Harry wasn't overly interested in their plots or that the writing had enough familiar symbol for him to read it with minor difficulties. What captured his attention was the Galaxy map. A very detailed Galaxy map showing at least half of it being known.

Harry studied astronomy for five years. It mostly revolved around the star alignments, but he had a good understanding on how the Galaxy looked. Earth was about twenty-five thousand light-years away from the core. He looked at the part labeled as the Unknown Region, before looking at Felucia. There was a massive space between them. Even if by some means he was teleported from Earth, why did he arrive here?

He thought about it, trying to figure out this riddle, but came up with nothing. After a few minutes he abandoned it. He already wasted minutes that could be used to search for anything useful. With a last glance at the map, he exited the room.

It had taken only a few more rooms to confirm his earlier suspicion, someone trashed the entire camp, leaving little to nothing of worth unscratched. He only found a pair of binoculars and a whole blaster pistol, in a room on the first floor, to show for his work. Only the one pistol was functional among dozen. It seemed as all miners had at least one weapon on their body.

The blaster was of a slick design, much more advanced than the others, which resembled the revolvers and WWII era weapons he had seen in films. Harry was never that familiar with mundane weapons. The closest he could think of was those had see in the James Bond films he had watched with Hermione.

He put the blaster in his shoulder bag and was about to continue his search, when he heard a loud crash below him. He turned to the stairs where he came from, but heard steps behind him. Turning around, he came across a small group of aliens, most likely Felucians.

They were humanoids about the height of a human with dull grey skin that had different markings of reds, blues and yellows. Maybe war paints or different pigments? He couldn't tell. Their heads had several tendrils on them. In their arms – was that an extra arm on the elbow? – they held pretty primitive weapons, stone spikes, clubs and the like.

However that didn't mean they weren't dangerous. Before Harry could even utter a word, if they even understood anything he wanted to say that is, the Felucians charged at him with battlecries, weapons raised high.

"It seems the negotiation time is over with them," mumbled Harry, while sending the approaching group back with a quick _Depulso_. He thought briefly about going down to where he had heard someone fighting, but dismissed it immediately. He presumed the other person was Aayla, since he knew no one else who was near would be fighting with the natives. The group he was engaged with didn't seemed deterred as they rose back to their feet. They were a bit more cautious, spreading out to the other rooms to encircle him, but that was the only effect of his spell.

Harry didn't plan on giving them the time for it, however. He knew nothing about how Aayla was doing and the sounds from below only intensified. He sent a _Reductor_ at the leader blasting it into nothing.

' _I may have put more power into that one than necessary_ ,' Harry thought as he sent two curses at two other Felucians. It seemed that the natives were taken back by the death of their leader as they made no move to get out of the way of his spells. The first had his chest crushed by a _Bone Breaking_ _Curse_ , while the other was sliced up by a _Sectumsempra_.

Harry fell back to the stairs. Looking at the group he could see at least eight Felucians on the first floor moving towards him. He sent of a glowing red orb at the top of the stairs before racing down. He only just barely put up a barrier when the sonic bang went off.

He wasn't sure if any of the natives were dead because of it, but none came down so the spell must have been effective. Meaning he had time to search for Aayla. Speaking of which, the fighting seemed to mostly happening at the entrance hall.

Running through the hallway and into the room, he came across his Twi'lek companion fighting with another group of Felucians. There were several unmoving natives bodies laying around the room, a testament that Aayla didn't need as much help as Harry feared.

Not that she didn't seemed confident in her abilities, but even the best can be brought down by sheer numbers. ' _And here we are severely outnumbered, not to mention outpowered,'_ Harry thought as he saw the Felucian who was fighting Aayla.

He was large, easily twice the size of Harry, and he was swinging a great maul, like someone would a little stick. The Twi'lek Jedi Knight twirled out of the way with a dancer's grace, but couldn't respond as the other Felucians attacked her.

Harry gathered the attention of room's occupants by sending a conjured set of chains towards the giant, which entangled him. For a moment that is. The chains were snapped by the muscular brute easily.

"Harry! Behind you!" Aayla shouted at him as she bisected one warrior.

Harry evaded being pinned to the wall by a stone spear only by the hairsbreadth. He kicked the Felucian away and sent a _Sectumsempra_ after him. He had to admit to himself that Snape, while one of the biggest bastard he ever met, was a genius in spellcrafting.

He quickly assessed the situation. There was at least a dozen Felucians running around the room, mostly towards him. Apparently he was deemed as the easier prey compared to the Jedi Knight with two lightsabers. The big one seemed content with going after Aayla though.

Harry sent a _Reductor_ at a group of three coming from the right side. Another to the group coming from the front. There was a pause before he sent two _Inferno_ to two other natives turning them to mere pile of ash.

That was when his senses screamed DANGER to him. This time, however, he wasn't fast enough. The stone tip of the spear grazed his arm. With one swift motion, he got his knife out of its sheath and thrusted it into the neck of the blue alien next to him, before looking at his companion.

Aayla was battling the lone brute now. Her lightsaber could easily chop off one of its arms, but she couldn't go too near. One punch from that behemoth would break several of her bones, if not outright kill her.

Harry conjured another set of chains to trap the giant. While he only wanted to buy time so he could join Aayla, the beautiful Twi'lek lady jumped – way higher than what Harry expected– and with a precise swing of her blade decapitate him.

"Nice," Harry complimented as he stepped next to her, looking back and forth at the body and Aayla. "That was quite a jump there."

"Thanks," she said as she smiled at him, and she noticed the wound on his arm. "We should do something about that. Even if wasn't poisoned, it will infect easily," the Twi'lek added as she softly grabbed the arm to look at the wound.

Harry looked at the slash on his upper arm. It wasn't deep or very long. He gently removed his arm from her grasp and quickly healed himself with a spell.

Aayla could only shake her head as she looked at the cut rapidly closing. "I don't think I'll get used what you are able to do for a long time," she admitted, with a slow shake of her head. "Shouldn't you have made sure that there was no poison on that spear?" she added as an afterthought.

"I'm mostly immune to poisons," the messy-haired man stated as fact. Despite this he picked up the spear and cast a spell causing the tip to glow blue. "There wasn't anything on it thankfully," he said with a sigh and then dropped it back on the ground.

"Alright. We don't have much time before another group arrives," said Aayla. "We'll take a quick look at the other side of the camp and then get out of here." She nodded in the direction she was talking about.

He agreed with her suggestion, and they packed up and then went to the rusty building. It was as old as Harry thought it would be. There were several vehicles in there some new, some old, but most were damaged, most likely by the Felucians.

All the droids were in several scattered pieces, just like the miner's spacecraft on the other side of the hanger. It was roughly a hundred meters long, and in a half-drop shape. The underside was open as it was where the cargo went. The GR-75 medium transport was thoroughly destroyed. The hull had half a hundred bigger holes, at least, plus the cockpit's windows were also smashed. It wasn't the problem. A simple _Reparo_ would take care of them. But the consoles and generators? Not a chance.

"Well, it couldn't be much worse," Aayla dryly said.

"True enough."

As they made their way to the other side of the digsite, Harry glanced back and immediately signed to Aayla to stop.

She stopped and glanced around. "What happened?" she asked, agitated.

"Look back. It might just be me being paranoid, but I'm fairly certain that there was movement back at the mining site." He pointed to where he thought he saw something.

Aayla looked with the binoculars to where he indicated and sighed, "Yeah, the Felucians have arrived. I hope they won't come after us."

"If they can even find us," the wizard reminded her. They will be hundreds of miles away in a hour.

The return to their camp was silent. Aayla was not in the mood to talk and Harry didn't forced the issue. At least not until they arrived at the camp.

"Aayla is there something wrong?" enquired the messy-haired man.

"No, why?" the Jedi Knight asked in an even voice. She wasn't bad at hiding or controlling her feelings, but Harry always had a sixth sense about lies and danger.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to, Aayla, but it's obvious to me that you have a problem with something," he said with a sigh, but understood that they knew little of each other, and trust needed to grow.

"Huh, so you noticed it. I really hoped you wouldn't. It's unbecoming of a Jedi to be ruled by our emotions," Aayla said, sitting down next to the tent.

"I have a knack for these things, and you've been tense since we left the mining site," Harry said, shrugging his shoulder as he leaned against a tree next to her.

Aayla eyes widened, and then she stared at the sky a wry smile on her lips. "So even that... Yes, I wanted to see if I can see the news on the holonet..."

"To know what happened with the Jedi," realized Harry.

"Yeah, but the Felucians destroyed all of the communication gear there," said the blue-skinned woman with a frown. She really wanted to know what the news said. After she felt the disturbance in the Force, she needed to know if she made a difference.

"Aayla, you did all you could. That woman you notified, Shaak Ti, would have alerted the Order, wouldn't she? So have faith in her," Harry said with a reassuring smile.

Aayla sent a small smile back. "You're right. We should focus on the present," she stated, firming her resolve.

"Would you tell me about this Order of yours?" he asked after a second of hesitation, hoping to get her mind off her loss.

"The Jedi Order is old, Harry. If I were to tell you everything, it would take weeks if not months. And I don't even know that much about our history!" the Twi'lek replied a bit exasperated at her lack of knowledge.

"Well, you told me that you're the 'keepers of the peace', but it can't be that simple." Harry replied with a frown. "Peace, after all, often clashes with politics, economical interest and ideologies," he debated.

"That's true, but it's more complicated than that. I've always felt that our creed was; be they a healer, a diplomat, a scholar, or a warrior- a Jedi will always work for peace," the Twi'lek Jedi Knight said with deep conviction as if this was something that she recited many times.

"And yet, you were commanders in a war, that's quite a contradiction, don't you think?" the wizard asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but most of us believe that since we defend the Republic, we defend the peace as well. The Republic existed for nearly a thousand years in this form, and there was only a handful of galaxy wide conflicts in this millennium," Aayla responded softly. "But, yes, some of us don't think we should participate in the war, at least not as commanders, but as diplomats. And some members disagreed with the way the Council led us long before the war. It's only the most recent reason."

"There was more," Harry stated more than questioned, not really surprised. There wasn't one organization that large, which didn't have some sort of disturbance within it.

"Why can't I hear the surprise in your voice?" the blue-skinned woman asked rhetorically. "Some of us would suggest living a solitary life, and spending all of our time meditating and studying the Force. Others don't like the power the government holds over us. There were several clashes within the Order about our teaching as well," she informed him and seemed sad at the situation.

"What happened? What was in your teaching that was problematic?" he asked with a frown.

"A Jedi must have control of his or her emotions," she explained. "This doesn't sounds bad, but sometimes it makes us look heartless. Not just to the public, but to the other Jedi as well. We can't have attachments to anything; be it a person, a creature or even an object. The Council very rarely makes exceptions with those they deem strong enough to not to fall to the Darkside of the Force. I finally understand why. The backslash in the Force... It must be terrible. Just like... yesterday." She shuddered as the remembrance of the pain she felt.

"Wait, you felt the death of others in the... Force?" Harry asked with wide eyes. He knew she suffered yesterday, but he didn't know that she felt death. Now he understood why she broke down. "That's... awful. I can't imagine what it must be like."

"I always thought that most of us would be able to overcome our loss," whispered Aayla with a forlorn expression on her face. "I still think that it's true, but I can understand why they fear it."

"I see," Harry said as he stood up and marched over to Aayla, and kneeled so he was eye level with her. As the woman gazed at him with surprise as he gently embraced her. "I will help you, Aayla," he promised. "I know what it is like to lose those dear to you. It's all thanks to the people near me, my friends, that I stayed sane. At first I tried to do it alone, and I nearly went insane. But one of my friends didn't wait for me to come out of my shell. It is possible that she was the reason I didn't commit suicide," he said, remembering Nym after his fifth year. It was hard for him after Sirius' death. He truly didn't know what would have happened if Nym wasn't there for him. He didn't lie when he said he consider suicide a few times, after all. It is true that the others came and helped later, but his survival laid solely the Metamorphmagus' shoulders.

"Truly?" asked the Twi'lek softly with a great deal of surprise. "You... you don't seem like... like someone who would have lost his reason to live," she said with a tilt of her head, as if seeing him in a different light.

"It was more than a decade ago," the messy-haired wizard said with a wry smile. "I was a teenager and as my friends often said I was a 'moody bastard'." He smiled fondly at that, remembering how they would get him out of his funk with those words.

"So you say that I..." Aayla's golden eyes were filled with fear, and Harry understood the unfinished question.

"I'm only saying that everybody needs someone to help them sometimes," he explained, still holding on to her, gently swaying. "You're far stronger than I was at fifteen, and I'll be there for you if you need me," he promised again, tightening his hold a bit, so she understood that he was telling the truth.

"Thank you, Harry," the still distraught woman said as she rested her chin on Harry's shoulder. They stayed like that until Aayla broke the silence. Her lips moved gently and she softly whispered, "It's weird, I've only known you for less than a day, but I feel far closer to you than nearly anybody. Maybe Master Vos, Master Tholme and Kit…" she let the names drop slowly, not knowing if these people were still alive, especially the latter.

"I feel the same," he admitted as he continued to rock a bit. "It's... there weren't many people who I was that close on my home planet. I don't know, maybe it's because we're here for each other in a time like this. I've heard that things like this can forge a deep bond between people," he said thoughtfully.

"I see," Aayla said in a contemplative voice. "Did it happen to you before?" she asked out of blue. "Sorry... I don't know what I was thinking...it isn't any of my business," she apologized as she removed herself from the hug.

"It's alright," said Harry with a smile as he adjusted himself so he sat next to her. Aayla snuggled into his side, resting her lekku on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. "Yeah, it happened. As I said, at fifteen I lost my godfather Sirius. He died right in front of me while we were in battle, which wasn't even supposed to occur in the first place. Nym helped me immensely with my angst over that summer. I felt so close to her, and, well she also had some boyfriend problems, so I thought, why not try it? It was great, but after a while it became apparent that it just wasn't meant to be," he said with a shrug and then changed the subject. "You mentioned someone. Kit? Was it?" asked an interested Harry. "Who was he?"

"Kit Fisto. He was once my love," said Aayla sadly. "We... I don't know. It was platonic at best, and then we realized that whatever was between us was no more. For me he changed to be my older brother figure, and vice-versa."

"Kit Fisto, Kit Fisto..." the wizard repeated the name a few times as if trying to remember where he heard if from. And then he stared at Aayla in horror, and said, "Wait! Didn't Shaak Ti say that he was one of those who..."

"...who went to fight Palpatine? Yes," said Aayla in whisper. Under her closed eyes a tear drop rolled down on her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry Aayla," Harry said sadly as he gently wiped the tear away.

"It's alright. I...I know that he wouldn't want me to be like this. He made me promise soon after the Battle of Geonosis. We lost so many of the Order. But I can't... I just can't seem to move on," the sad Twi'lek said in a pained voice.

"You won't. Not for a long time and the pain will only lessen, it will never truly fade away," he said softly, tightening his arm offering what little comfort he could. "It's hard, I know. It may even be years, but I do know something that may help you with it."

"What it is?" asked Aayla.

"Tell me about him. You must have stories with him. After I lost Sirius, I could only think about that second when he died. One of my parents' and Sirius' friends, Remus Lupin, shared some stories with me from their school life. Nym and I didn't know him that long, but we loved him and shared our stories about him with each other," said Harry with a soft smile of encouragement. "What I want to say, Aayla, is that you shouldn't let those dark thoughts in your mind. They can make you crazy. Tell me about the lightest memories you had with him."

"Oh, there is a lot I can tell you..." said Aayla with a small smile playing on her face. And so she started her tales of her friend, turned brother. She talked to the wee hours of the morning until she felt slightly better. Then they retired for the evening.

The next morning started a lot more peaceful than the previous one. It was again Harry who woke up earlier, though this time he slept on the couch. He checked on Aayla, only to find her peacefully asleep. She slowly started to wake up, due to the door creaking. Seeing Harry face, she smiled at him sleepily.

"Good morning." Harry said with a grin. "How did you sleep?"

"Morning," she replied with a yawn. "It was good. Thank you. You?"

"As always," the mussed up wizard replied with a shrug. "I'll go and prepare breakfast," he offered once again, not knowing if she could cook or not.

"Thanks. I will come out..." she yawned and stretched, "...soon."

Harry was nearly done with his portion of breakfast, when the Jedi Knight joined him at the table in the kitchen. They sat in silence until she also finished her meal.

"It's still relatively early in the morning," he said, glancing out of the tent. "Should we head to one of the cities?" he asked as he gathered the dishes and put them in the sink to wash.

"I'm going for a jog, you can join if you want. Then I practice at least for an hour, after that we shall see," the now awake woman said with a shrug. "Those who wanted to take off in this morning already did or will do by the time we would arrive there. There's no need to be there for hours and risk being discovered."

"I think I'll join you on your workout," he said with a nod getting up to go and get changed.

After they cleaned up from breakfast and checked their map, they made their way out of the tent and into the forest of fungi. There was a lake at a distance of approximately three-four kilometer from the camp. It was more than enough for a morning workout. Aayla lead the way at first a little hesitant of the speed she ran at.

Despite her expectations, Harry stayed close to her, even if it was quite taxing on him. He was amazed at her fitness. She didn't have an ounce of plus weight on her that was for sure. Well, it seemed that he had some and it showed. In the end he was drenched in sweat, heaving out of breath.

Aayla, on the other hand, seemed alright. She sweated a little, but her breathing was only a little labored. "Are you alright? It seems that was a little bit too much for you, Harry." She didn't look that concerned for him, all things considered he noted.

"I'll manage," Harry said, between pants. "It's a bit more than I thought it'd be."

"We can go on a slower pace back," Aayla suggested. She looked at him with a small smirk and stated mirthfully, "I don't want you to have a heart attack."

"Why thank you ever so much," the huffing wizard said as he grinned back at her. He wasn't that egoistic as some other wizards, so he knew not to take her joke seriously. "But all joking aside, you must've had some heavy training regime to have that kind of stamina." He was impressed.

"You'll see it in the next hour," Aayla promised with a wink. "I'll wait for you."

"No, that's not necessary," he declined the offer. "You go ahead and I'll follow." He waved his hand is a shooing motion, to let her know he was okay with her leaving him there.

The Twi'lek woman looked at him uncertainly for a moment, before nodding and running back to the camp.

Harry waited for a good ten minutes, and then went after her at a more sedated pace. When he arrived back, Aayla was already in the middle of doing some forms with one of her laser swords. She was graceful like a dancer, but it was the dance of death. Beautiful, but deadly at the same time.

"So, these are your weapons?" he asked as she become aware of his return and deactivated the one she was using.

"Yes, they're called lightsabers," she replied, holding up the one in her hand. "Most Jedi only carry one of them..." she trailed off with a shrug.

"But, you have two?" Harry questioned as he glanced at her belt where another one hung. From what he could see, they were identical.

"I also practice Jar Kai, the art of using two of them, in addition to the traditional forms," Aayla explained then smiled at some memories. "And if one got damaged, I'll have a spare to use."

"Can I see them?" Harry asked with his interest piqued. He only used one sword in his entire life and it was memorable to say the least. You don't kill a fifty feet long snake, with death stare, using a thousand years old sword everyday. This lightsaber seemed as interesting as the Sword of Gryffindor.

Aayla did something with one of the buttons, and then tossed him the one in her hand. He easily caught it then activated it. He started doing twirls, slashes and stabs with it, at first slowly then faster, but still cautiously. Harry thought it looked cool, but knew that these weren't toys for him to play with. After a few minutes, he shut it down and gave it back to her.

"So, how was I?" Harry was curious. He felt as if he could use it, if the situation comes down to it. However, it was obvious he had no practice with it, or any other kind of melee weapon so it was still a completely new experience.

"You were more assertive than I thought you'd be," the Jedi Knight admitted as she glanced at him with a speculative look. "If you want I can teach you how to use them," she offered sincerely.

"Really?" Harry asked excitedly, almost bouncing in place, but didn't.

"Really. But please be careful with it," she said as she tossed the lightsaber back to him. "Do you want to start now?"

Despite Harry knowing it wouldn't consist of only sparring with each other, learning how to wield a lightsaber was a surprisingly tedious task. They didn't spar – and from what Aayla said they won't until she feel that Harry was proficient enough with them– they started at the basics like the proper way to hold the hilt, stances, both defensive and offensive, the basic attacking and defending moves. After a while, he couldn't even keep track of time, he was so focused on learning this style of weapon. So he was surprised when Aayla stopped them.

"I think for the first day it was more than enough, Harry," the Twi'lek said, after what seemed like hours of practice. "You made enormous progress in only a few hours. You have exceptional muscle memory: you learned what takes most Jedi years. Even if they are younger than you by quite a wide margin. "

"I see, and thanks," Harry replied at the compliment. "I noticed that you used different movements. Is that some advanced techniques or something else entirely?" he asked, putting the lightsaber up for now.

"What you learned was the basis of Form I, Shi Cho. It's the oldest way of sword fighting and the base of all the other forms. It's what you must learn first, even if you don't master it," the Jedi Knight explained. "What I used, was Form VI, Niman. It takes elements from all other forms, save the seventh and final, to create a completely balanced lightsaber form."

"So you know six out of seven forms?" the wizard asked wide-eyed with awe. It was just unfathomable to him for someone to train as much as Aayla had. Especially since she seemed to be a similar age as of himself. To be so young, yet so knowledgeable was just awe inspiring.

"Yes, but I'm by no means a master of any of them. It would take decades to master all of them, if you don't have a ridiculous talent for this disciple," she said as she attached her lightsaber to her belt. "I'm proficient in Form IV, Ataru and Form V, Djem So, and have the basic down from Shi Cho and Soresu which is Form III, but I can only claim near mastery of Niman."

"And Jar Kai? Is it part of the forms or not?" he asked confused. Sue him, he know nothing about swords and fighting with them, let alone lightsabers.

"Yes and no, Jar Kai is something different from the normal forms and yet is the same," she replied "Jar Kai only means that you use two lightsabers for the forms. It isn't part of the traditional seven, just another way to do the forms."

"It seems there are more to these forms than what I first thought," Harry said with a thoughtful face.

"All have some philosophy behind them. To master any of them, you have to be able to truly understand and become one with the belief of that philosophy," she explained the simplest way she could.

"Are there any other forms?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"Well, there are sub forms and variations of every Great Form," said Aayla as she looked him in the eye to see if he was following along. "Technically Jar Kai is the name of one sub form in every Great Form, so what I use is Niman Jar Kai. Only the truly gifted individuals have some unique style, but mostly even those are just amalgamation of two or three of the Great Seven. Nearly every one added something to their lightsaber training."

"So, what? There are millions of forms? Or personal forms?" Harry asked bewildered, rubbing the back of his head.

"No, of course not, why would you think of that?" she asked back, clueless to what led Harry to this question.

"Well, your Order has members in the millions, right? I mean you have to guard the whole galaxy..." trailed off Harry seeing the look on Aayla face.

"No, we don't have that large numbers Harry," she answered as she shook her head. "We only have the main temple at Coruscant and four other enclaves. If all put together, there are only approximately fifteen thousand members." And then she got sad for a moment and remembered the disturbance and mumbled to herself, "Well that was until yesterday." She firmed her resolve to not let her emotions control her and looked at the wizard with clear eyes.

Harry didn't hear that last part, but his jaw dropped at the low number she quoted. "Only fifteen thousand? How can you keep the peace with that few members?" he asked. Even the auror forces of Earth were in greater numbers, and they didn't have to protect even a hundred million people. The mundane armed forces were a whole other thing entirely.

"We only interfere if it's of great importance, like an intergalactic problem, or a political debate between two sectors or something like that," the Jedi Knight stated, though she didn't seem happy at that.

Harry saw the brief flash of anger in her eyes. "I see, well, I don't know about you, but I've gotten hungry. Care to join me?" he asked, hoping to change the course of the conversation.

"Gladly."

During lunch Aayla seemed restless. Seeing Harry's questioning stare she voiced her thoughts, "Harry, I think we should leave the planet today. How fast can you break camp and be ready to go?"

"A few minutes at tops," the messy-haired man replied, but there came a stray thought in the front of his mind. "Do we even have enough money to get off the planet?" He remembered that she said she didn't have enough to buy a ship, but she never said how much she did have.

"Plenty," Aayla replied. "I have more than ten thousand credits with me. Even if we want to hire someone, it would only take a couple of thousand to reach Ossus. If it's out of their way."

"Oh," Harry said and then they proceeded to break camp. The tent was folded up in his trunk within a few second of stepping out. Then the wizard started to undo the wards, which were tied into five ward-stones that were placed in a pentagon around the campsite.

Aayla looked at the rectangular shape made out of some metal. It was about a half a meter long and ten centimeter by sides. Taking it in her hands she inspected it. All sides had small writing along its entire length. "I wanted to ask it before. What are those?" she asked as she showed the one in her hand to Harry.

The wizard looked up from taking out the second one from the earth. "I made them while you slept. They are called ward-stones. Well, they're no longer made from stone, but ward-metal sounds... wrong, I guess. Anyway, do you see the runes on the side of it?" Seeing her nod, he continued, "They're commands, each one produces a different effect." He ran his finger along one side on the second ward-stone. "This one makes sure that we can't be seen by any means."

"I see," Aayla said as she looked with ever growing curiosity at the object in her hands. "I thought they looked familiar to the totem poles some of the less advanced species use..." she trailed off realising that what she just said might be insultive.

"Their origin was that on my home planet," Harry agreed as he got the third out. He had only seen a few real totem poles in North America. He looked back over his shoulder and asked, "Have you seen any of them? Did they do anything?"

"Dozens on different planets." Aayla frowned and answered, "They do something, they resonate in the Force." Harry stopped putting the third ward-stone away and turned toward his companion, but Aayla could only send him an apologetic smile as she explained, "I'm sorry, but no one knows what they do exactly. There's a whole research group studying only this."

"I see. Maybe, I can take a look at them," Harry offered,thinking he might be able to understand them better.

"If we have the time and opportunity," the Twi'lek stated as she nodded along. She, herself, had only a passing interest in those pre-historic relics. However, she also understood Harry's point of view. This was something he was familiar with and they might be able to answer some of his questions. Sadly, they had neither of the two things needed for it. If everything went according to Aayla's plan, they will be leaving the planet in a few hours. Not to mention that even with enough time, she would rather stay away from the Felucians for now.

Harry also knew of their situation, so he let the topic rest. He had no desire to fight Aayla over this. She said that there were similar totems on different planets, so he will most likely have his chance in the future. With that in mind, he took out the two last poles of metal and tossed them into his chest. Honestly, they weren't that good to begin with. He was in such a hurry to create a form of defense yesterday, and he had no time for the deliberate ward schemes he would usually do.

Thankfully, most people seemed ignorant about wards or how to break them. In light of that even the subpar work that he had quickly put together was enough.

Getting back to real life, he shrank the chest then put it into Aayla's sack. The Jedi Knight put a simple cloak over her usual attire. When Harry offered a warming charm, thinking she was doing so because of the wind, she declined. She explained that she wanted to wear her lightsabers, but also needed to hide them. Both of them took one of the functional blasters they had found at the mining site and straped it on themselves, but that was more for show than any real use. Harry knew he wasn't, and most likely never will be, a very good marksman and Aayla wasn't that much better either.

The ride to Niango was spent without a sound. Harry quickly realized that he would need to shout very loudly to have any hope of being heard by Aayla, even if she was sitting nearly in his lap! While he made a mental note to buy at least two earpieces or their equal when they arrived in the city. They could come in handy, and not only on a speeder. There was no guarantee of them never being separated.

They arrived in the city only an hour or so after they broke camp. Harry expected something very futuristic, despite of the experience at military base and mining camp. Seeing the simple rectangular shapes of the houses he was disappointed.

Aayla parked their speeder at the side of a store. It was a small ten-by-ten meters long building with a neutral brown color to it. The neon over the entrance read: _Tobo's General Supply_.

Harry nearly asked why she thought that this was a good place, since there were no parking signs he could see, but decided against it. It would undoubtedly raise suspicion. He followed Aayla like a shadow leaning to her head, his lips nearly touching the back of the little horn at the side of her head. "I think I should try and play the dumb thug here," he whispered.

Aayla didn't slowed down, she only nodded her head a little with a small smile on her face. She quickly schooled her features as they stepped into the shop.

"Greetings, what can I get for you?" Tobo asked with a fake smile, a grin really. He was human, but abnormally small with red hair and greedy brown eyes. His eyes gazed over the Twi'lek's form. His grin faltered as they connected with Harry's hard glare.

"Greetings," Aayla said, not at all bothered by the man's leer. "A few little things and information."

"I don't really sell information, young lady," the short man replied with a narrowing of his eyes.

"Two comlinks and earpieces," she stated firmly. She apparently thought the same as Harry did on the way here. "And I know perfectly well that you sell information if a... suitable compensation is in the picture," she added, with a narrowing of her own eyes.

"What do you want to know?" Tobo asked nervously.

"The names of captains, who would be willing to take us away from this planet. Not for free of course," Aayla said as if it were no big deal.

Tobo, however, just shook his head. "You are misinformed, girl. There is no in and out. Anyone who try will be shot down," he stated with a tapping of his finger on the counter.

"When will it end?" she asked, internally frustrated, but not showing it.

"Who knows?" the man replied with a shrug. "You aren't the only one who doesn't want this. Do you know how many shipment will I miss?!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"I can imagine," the Jedi Knight dryly replied, not the least bit impressed by his theatrics. "Please, ring us up."

Stepping outside, a few hundred credits lighter, the blue-skinned woman frowned.

Harry, who was walking beside her, quietly asked, "What should we do?"

"We are stuck for now," she replied. "Don't look, but there is a squad of clones at the other side of the street." Her frown deepened. "It seem Bly left a small garrison here."

"So we wait?" he sighed, swiftly glancing around, but not moving his head.

"Yes, we wait. There is little we could do," the Twi'lek replied as they went back to their vehicle. Harry himself a bit relieved that he didn't have to use magic on their little trip in the city. He could use it to get those earpieces cheaper or even free, but if someone could detect him using magic they would be in big trouble. It just didn't worth it.

The way back to the clearing was nearly as silent as the way to the city. The only event was when Harry spotted a large green monster. It was like a hybrid of mantis and crab, over six meters long. It was called Acklay, according to Aayla. More disturbing was the knowledge that they most often hunted in small packs.

Harry decided that he will be using more powerful wards. He had no desire to ever meet one of those up close. It only took ten minutes, after arriving back to the campsite, to put up the tent and the wards. Having nothing better to do, they made their way back to where Harry had his lightsaber training.

The wizard wanted to find out the reason why magic, the Force as Aayla called it, was different in contrast to what he was accustomed to. What he expected to find was something similar to Earth. What he felt wasn't like that at all. Felucia, the entire planet was covered in an entire energy field, that was true, but you couldn't just point out a place where it was weaker or more powerful. It was like it came from all beings and in all directions.

Deciding that he at should least ask someone who had some experience with the 'Force' he glanced at Aayla. And his jaw dropped.

She was floating in midair and had a half dozen small and large rocks floating around her in a circle, like a mini solar system. It wouldn't be hard, if not for the single fact that she meditated along with it. "Yes, Harry? Can I help you with something?" Aayla asked with closed eyes as she slowly floated down with the rocks.

"Yes, but forget about that... How did you do that? I mean, you're meditating and floating at the same time. Isn't that hard to do?" he asked, momentarily forgetting about his questions.

"It's... it's hard for you to do?" Aayla inquired in return as she looked at him a bit bewildered. It wasn't easy, per se, but a Jedi Knight was expected to be able such a feat without much effort.

"Yeah. On my home planet it was different. I mean the magic itself was different." Harry was distraught that he couldn't seem to explain what the difference was. It was all just so confusing and overwhelming and the last few days were finally catching up to him.

"Wait, Harry. Let's start from the beginning, shall we? What do you mean the Force is different on your home planet?" Aayla asked as she gestured in a soothing motion. She didn't like this anxious Harry. He always seemed so calm that he reminded her of the other Jedi.

Harry calmed himself down after taking a deep breath. "There's an energy field, the Force I believe, but it's as if it is generated by all living beings. On Earth it was just there, it was like air or water."

"That's exactly what the Force is," Aayla explained with a nod, she really didn't see the problem with it. "It's not that huge problem, is it? I mean, there was an energy field on your planet and there is another one here as well. I mean, sure it might be different, but it can't be by much."

"I...I see." Harry started to relax. "You're right. I hope that you're right. It's just different, but I don't know if everything's the same. I am fairly certain that it won't be. Perhaps we should experiment and see," he said, trying to wrap his brain around what he was feeling.

What followed was a series of try-outs of the differences between magic and the Force. It became apparent that the Force had different laws compared to magic. If you used it for a blast like curse or other spells, it was even more potent. But something like a disillusionment was nearly entirely impossible. The only way to make long lasting spells work was runecraft. He could still conjure something, but it would last way shorter than it did on Earth.

After coming to this realization he, under Aayla tutelage, tried to float during meditating. It wasn't as hard as he thought, since he waited for the nature of the Force. Which the Jedi Knight explained meant that as you concentrated on floating you also focused on the Force.

The following two weeks went much like this. Aayla taught him about the Force and what was needed to survive in the Galaxy, like the different species, money, starships, regions, sectors, trade routes, influential people and groups. There were thousands of little things to remember. It was like when he was thrust into the Wizarding World and had to learn about it. Honestly, he was certain that he forgotten some of them already, but he was sure that they were minor things.

They continued their morning routine. Harry still wasn't where he wanted to be, but he was getting there. It would make him sweat, but he started to loss the difference at their run in the morning.

His study of the lightsaber went much the same. He was nowhere near Aayla, and it showed. After learning the basic of Shi Cho, the Twi'lek brought out a small floating ball, which fired a low powered laser at him.

The dark-haired wizard was nervous. He never tried anything like this. He had one of Aayla's lightsabers in his hand and his eyes were obscured by a cloth. At the first he couldn't do anything, one moment nothing, then in the next moment he felt a sting on his shoulder blade.

"You have to move before it fires, Harry," Aayla scolded him gently, even as Harry torn the cloth away from his eyes. "Listen to the Force and you will be able to do it."

"I know! I know!" the angry man retorted. He heard it a few times already. "Sorry," he said after a second. Aayla just waved it away and signed him to try it again.

The second try was the same, but on the third attempt he managed to do it. His hope was dashed when Aayla showed him her training session with that little ball. Plus, she added two others. She also switched all three to the top speed. When she used them - even with blindfold - she used mastery Harry couldn't hope to match for a very long time.

It was the sixteenth day after their lives came together that they received visitors. It was just after midday, when Harry first saw them, however, Aayla sensed them long before that. About the time he caught a glimpse of metal reflecting sunlight was when she pointed in the direction they were coming from.

There was a relatively big, steel grey ship, about half the size of the GR-75, but wasn't as slick as that ship. The central part was a tubular form and the two cargo holds on its side were approximately brick shape. At the centre of the front was the cockpit. At the other end were the three main thrusters and four smaller ones between the main; two on the upper side and two on the downside of them.

"It's a YU-410 light freighter," Aayla explained as she watched it descend. It wasn't surprising that she had known the type.

Harry deduced that Aayla was like those one of those sports car fans who knows everything about a car when it came to starships. "Who do you think will arrive on it," Harry wondered, even if he did find it strange that the military would use them for this.

"Friends," she replied. "Two Jedi and one of them is Shaak Ti."

"Oh," the wizard replied, still watching the ship.

"I'll go and have them fly here, where we have enough space for them," said Aayla, seeing the ship landing on a clearing near to them. "Please lower your wards, Harry."

"Of course," he said as he nodded to her, and then he went to alter the wards.

When Aayla arrived to the freighter, she saw that the two passengers had landed safely. Just as she said, one of them was Master Shaak Ti.

The Togruta Jedi Master was only a little bit taller than her. She was a feral beauty with lean and hard body, just as beautiful as Aayla, even if it was hidden under the Jedi cloak. The other person was also female, a petite, delicate Zabrak teenager. She had braided jet-black hair and nearly innocent face. She wore clothing similar, both in style and material, to Aayla's own, though her top had no pattern, while the Jedi Knight's did.

"Master Shaak Ti!" Aayla couldn't help but cry out at seeing the older woman.

"Aayla!" Shaak Ti wasn't any less enthusiastic in greeting her back. The usually reserved Jedi Master hugged Aayla breathless.

The Twi'lek only hesitated for a moment before hugging her back. After breaking apart, she looked at the young Zabrak near to them, who had an extremely embarrassed smile on her face. "What's your name little one?" she asked the young girl.

"Aayla, let me introduce you to Padawan Maris Brood," Shaak Ti introduced the two young Jedi to each other. "Her master was killed at the attack of the Jedi Temple."

"My consolations for your lose, Padawan Brood." Aayla gently hugged the girl to her.

"Thank you, Master Secura," she replied a bit hesitant as if she was never hugged like that. Knowing several traditional masters, it wasn't out of question and maybe Harry's habit of giving her hugs whenever he thought that she needed one had altered her view on it.

"Let's go back in the ship. I'll guide you to the camp," Aayla suggested as she turned toward the ship in question.

"Yes, let's go." Shaak Ti agreed.

On their way inside the ship, Aayla anxiously asked her question. The question she had since feeling Shaak Ti arriving on the planet. "What happened after we talked, Master?"

"It was a miracle Aayla. Thanks to your warning, we were able to warn many Order members. I also had the children taken, just as I told you," then the Togruta Master's voice wavered, "but even with that, we could only take our most treasured artifacts and parts of the Archives with us. To flee with all on such a short notice was impossible, but we tried, nonetheless. Then a clone regiment arrived in full force, it was the 501st with Skywalker leading them."

"Skywalker? No, it's not possible," Aayla cried out dismayed. Skywalker was not only an icon for the public, he was widely regarded as one of the best Jedi Knights.

"It is possible," Shaak Ti said darkly. "I fought him after he killed Maris' master, Master Ken Lass and Master Cin Drallig. He calls himself Darth Vader now, and he is the apprentice of Palpatine."

"How... how could he fall?" she stuttered, not being able to fathom it. Skywalker was called the Hero with No Fear for a reason. His sense of justice was absolute, so much so, that it often got him into conflict with the Council.

"I don't know, I really don't." The older woman seemed lost in her thoughts. "After the battle, Maris and I fled into the Coruscant underworld. After ten days, we came across this ship. The owner was a businessman. The live cargo on his ship was apparent of _that_ ," she spat the last bit out in disgust.

"Slaver?" Aayla hissed. As a Twi'lek, she was even more sensitive about that topic than most.

"Don't fret, Aayla, we have taken care of him. He will never cause harm to anyone ever again."

They stayed silent as Aayla piloted it over to their camp. Harry was standing in the middle of the clearing waiting for them. He looked up at the ship, curiously.

' _Not a surprise,'_ Aayla thought. ' _Everything is new to him.'_

"Who is he?" Maris asked, looking suspiciously at the dark-haired man.

Before Aayla could say anything, Shaak Ti spoke up, "I think he is the one we can thank the warning we got from you, Aayla, is he not?"

"So you did notice?" the Twi'lek asked with a half smile. She really had been expecting it.

"That there was more to your story than a vision from the Force? Yes, it was not that hard to figure out," replied the Jedi Master.

"I'm sorry Master Secura..." Maris started, obviously ashamed that she had been that hostile to one who helped the Order and Master Secura as well, but Aayla interrupted her.

"It's alright. He won't take it personal. Neither will I," she promised as she smiled reassuringly at the young woman, which caused her to look up at Aayla with relief on her face.

"We will need to leave quickly. I sense great danger in the future," said the Jedi Master, while landing in the clearing.

"I sense it as well, Master," Aayla said, "but I thought it was the garrison. Flight has been banned since that day."

"I am certain, Aayla," said Shaak Ti. "It is something much more dangerous to us than a few fighters. We need to leave as soon as we can."

As they made their way down on the ramp to Harry, the two new Jedi looked him over. To them he seemed to be a human, or a member of a near-human race, even from far away. It was apparent that he was fairly tall, muscled and had raven black hair. What they didn't see was his emerald eyes shining with a hidden power, until they got closer. Maris' pale skin flushed when she saw them and she shyly looked down and even Shaak Ti looked affected.

"Harry, these are my Jedi sisters, Master Shaak Ti and Padawan Maris Brood," the Twi'lek introduced them to each other. "Sisters, this is Harry. Without him, I would be dead."

"And all of us as well, if I am not mistaken," the older woman said. "I thank you for your help to the Jedi Order."

"It was nothing, really," he said, obviously embarrassed.

"However, it also leaves the question, how did you know about the Sith's plan to destroy us?" the Jedi Master asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry eyes were on her hands, which were on her lightsaber's hilt.

"Wait! It's not that simple," said Aayla, who also noticed the older woman's movements. Then she turned to Harry and said, "Please show them your presence."

Harry shrugged at this then let his power, which he bound so carefully together, free.

Both Shaak Ti and Maris Brood whipped their heads to him.

"It is..." started the Jedi Master.

"Unbelievable," finished a wide-eyed Maris. "How... how can it be? It shouldn't be possible to be someone that powerful in the Force and remain out of the Order's sight!"

"Palpatine did it right under our noses," Shaak Ti muttered darkly, after getting over her shock.

"It's nothing like that, Master. Harry, well..." Aayla looked at him questionly, but Harry just shrugged. How do you say that you are from another world without being thought crazy? "He is from an unknown planet. He helped me after being teleported here."

"What?!" exclaimed the two women.

"I can explain it," Harry hurried to placate them.

"Please do so." Shaak Ti seemed more relaxed, but still a bit cautious around the stranger.

So Harry started with his story. Well, the short version as they started to pack their equipment into the ship's cargo holds. It was fairly entertaining to see the two Jedi's disbelief as they progressed in their tale. They nearly finished at the same time with the equipment and the recount.

As they were getting ready to take off, Aayla asked the questions she had wanted to ask since they arrived. "Master, what happened in the Galaxy? The Republic wouldn't stand for Palpatine being the chancellor, now that they know that he's a Sith Lord, will they?"

"The Republic is no more, Aayla." Shaak Ti seemed tired as she sat down in the navigator's seat. Aayla was the pilot, since she was the most experienced and talented among them. Maris was simply too young and she confessed that she was not that keen on piloting a spacecraft. Harry sat behind Aayla in one of the passenger's seat. His involvement with piloting the ship was unspokenly decided to be minimal for at least until Aayla could educate him on it a bit. "Palpatine destroyed it and the Galactic Empire rose from its ashes with Palpatine as Emperor at its head."

"But... the core worlds... Alderaan, Corellia and Chandrila... How could they allow it?" The Twi'lek returned with fear clear in her voice.

"How could they prevent it?" the Jedi Master asked back. "Only Corellia has a military force worth mentioning and compared to the Grand Army, it still could only do so much. Even with the public knowing who he is and what he has done, they won't do anything."

"They know, the public, I mean?" Harry asked interested. That could change everything, if the people know that Palpatine is a dictator and not their savior.

"Yes, we gave everything we had on Palpatine to the media. There are even holos of the attack on the temple," confirmed Shaak Ti.

"And the cowards still allowed it," Maris hissed furiously. "They didn't do anything to help us! Just bowed low and..."

"It's not that simple," Harry interrupted, causing all three of them to look at him. "What's more important, your family or some people that you've never meet? Besides, Palpatine hasn't done anything, sans attacking the Jedi. He probably hasn't gone against the public, yet. He won't for a few years, and then the terror will begin." Maris seemed ashamed for her outburst, but he waved it away. "It's alright. When I was as young as you, I thought the same as well. Why can't they fight back? Because even if they would die for it, they won't risk other lives or their family's life for it, yet."

"You seem quite knowledgeable on this, Harry," Aayla pointed out to him with a raised eyebrow.

The three Jedi women looked at him curiously. Had the world he lived in survived a time similar to this? Had he been in the same position as them?

"Well, there were two big regimes in the mundane part of my planet, in the last fifty years or so. The Nazis and the Communists. Both used blackmail, spies, money, and if needed brute strength to remain in power," he explained to them.

"So we're on our own?" asked Aayla, bringing the subject back to the downfall of the Republic and biting her lip in worry.

"Officially, yes, but both Alderaan and Chandrila will aid us if they can," was the reply by Maris.

"And Corellia? General Bel Iblis would fight back..." the Twi'lek asked, looking at the older Jedi.

"Yes, but he escaped with his fleet to somewhere. Probably hiding in the Outer-Rim or Wild Space," answered Shaak Ti. "Just as we will."

As they took off, Maris, who looked over the radar, spoke up. "Master? I'm not sure, but it seems like they are sending a full flight after us."

"So the ban is still in effect." Aayla mused.

Harry, however, didn't understood why they had waited for them to take off. "Why only send now?" he asked, echoing his thoughts.

"They probably wanted to intercept us in space," Shaak Ti explained. "They more than likely did not think we would be done in a few minutes."

Harry remained fairly quiet as they left the planet behind. It was a totally new experience for him. For the first time in his life, he was in space. It was beautiful, gigantic and serene. Until the space on their right side was disrupted by six venator class star destroyers and their escorts. A full fleet has just arrived.

They were lucky that the hyperdrive and the navi-computer were ready to jump. In less than ten seconds they were on their way.

"A whole fleet here?" Aayla exclaimed.

"Most likely because you ruined Palpatine's plan, or at least the end of it," Shaak Ti said, sounding pretty satisfied at the thought of causing headache for the Sith Lord.

"I hid my tracks the best I could," the blue-skinned woman whispered, looking a bit fearful.

"Just as we did," the Jedi Master replied soothingly, "but I think the entire intelligence service of the Empire is mainly focused on the remains of the Order, so it is not that surprising."

"I see," the beautiful Twi'lek breathed out.

"We should stop and go on other way. Ossus would be an obvious choice for us, they will expect us there," said Maris to change the course of the talk. The three other occupants of the cockpit were grateful for her.

"Good point, Maris, maybe a longer jump to Kessel?" Aayla said as she turned to Shaak Ti.

The Togruta was silent for a minute, and then she nodded in consent. "Even with the danger of a longer jump, I think Kessel would do better with a stop at Trogan or Boonta."

"I think we'll go and relax a bit," said Aayla as she got up and pulled Harry out of the passenger seat and then retired to her cabin, still holding his hand the entire way.

Maris glanced at them incredulously, and then at Master Ti.

The Togruta woman looked on in amazement. "This will be an interesting journey."

"Indeed, Master."


	3. 3 ANForum

So, because of the large negative respond for my idea to answer guests I decided to create a forum.

You can ask anything and I allowed all user to create topics. Please don't abuse this privilege.

I will take a look at every mornin and evening.

The forum:

www . fanfiction forum/basa93-fanfics/185599/


	4. 4 Trogan

**AN: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

 **Sorry for the long wait!**

 **The guest reviews will be answered tomorrow on the forum I created. Also I plan to take down the third 'chapter' (the AN) and replace it with this one at a later date. Could someone tell me what will happen to the reviews? I know that one person can only review one chapter once.  
**

 **I know Jagged Fel wasn't born yet in cannon, but as I said this is an AU fanfic.**

 **I welcome all reviews and criticism as long as it comes with the minimum amount of form. I will answer to all reviews one way or the other. The answer length will most likely correspond with the length of the review.**

 **This chapter was beta read by Fairywm. I greatly appreciate her effots in supporting this fanfic!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

Chapter III:

Trogan

Core Worlds, Coruscant, Imperial Palace, 16. 10. 24.

The Imperial Palace, not long ago known as the Palace of the Republic, was at the heart of the Palace District of Coruscant. With more than a hundred towers soaring all over the surrounding buildings, it radiated power and arrogance.

Some said that it was a disgrace that the Supreme Chancellor would live in such a place. Bail Organa being the loudest and most frequent in voicing that opinion. However, others only see the embodiment of magnificence and success, the ageless building showed of these traits.

It was a hybrid of a pyramid, a cathedral and ancient temples that could be found on human populated worlds. Now, after several thousands years since its completion, there were workers, both droid and organic, around it again. They were rebuilding it on their master's order.

Deep within this building, far from the sound of the work going on outside, there was the new throne chamber for the ruler of the newly formed Galactic Empire. The oval shaped chamber was decorated with Sith statues of all sizes along the wall. The rest of the chamber was spartan, discounting those. On the throne, sat Emperor Palpatine with two pair of the Royal Guards standing at attention, one pair behind the throne and the other pair at the door leading into it.

Darth Sidious was pleased at how everything turned out. The plan to seize control over the Republic was complete. However, if he was a bit displeased by anything, it was how easy it was. Of course, most of it could be laid at his feet. He was the one who altered the plan of the ancient Sith to be perfect for the Jedi to not notice his rise to power.

It started with the invasion of the Naboo, his home planet. In light of the sudden crisis, no one was concerned that the older senator from the peaceful planet, who always favored diplomatic solutions, became the Supreme Chancellor. A title that became more and more formal over the years.

For the Jedi, it was just another political game and they had a far more urgent matter at hand, namely Darth Maul. It took months for the High Council to determine if he was a Sith or just a Dark Jedi. After deciding that he must have been the apprentice of the Sith Lord, they started to search for him, which turned up absolutely nothing. Sidious made certain to tie up every single loose threads leading to him.

For a decade he used his vast connections to make himself one of the most beloved Supreme Chancellors in the history of the Republic. Very few didn't fall for his benevolent grandfather persona, though some like Bail Organa, Padme Amidala and Mon Mothma were displeased when the Senate granted him extended time in office near the end of his second term.

Just before they could use it to move against him politically, he had Count Dooku make his move. The First Battle of Geonosis and the start of the Clone Wars changed everything. Darth Tyrannus was the perfect apprentice. Not only was he old and strong enough to be Darth Maul's master, leading the Jedi Order to question if he was the master or the apprentice, but he was wealthy and influential. In addition to being that, he was powerful, clever, ambitious and slightly arrogant. He was just what the Jedi Order thought a Sith Lord would look like.

So, Darth Sidious, who was secure in the shadows as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, gained emergency power to deal with the Separatists threat. Even the Count's words of the Sith Lord controlling the Senate wasn't enough for the Jedi Order to look closely in the possibility. They believed that they would have felt a Sith Lord. The entire conservation between the Count and Master Kenobi was considered an attempt to confuse the Jedi, and create a conflict between the Order and the Senate.

Only a year before the end of the war did the Council acknowledged the existence of Darth Sidious. It took so long that Palpatine began to suspect them of either being blind, or knowing his plan all along, but couldn't move against him just yet. In the end it was blindness. The Jedi Order had become arrogant, a trait they themselves looked down upon, in their one thousand years of leading the Republic.

The last stages of his plan: namely the transformation of the Republic into the Empire, with him being the Emperor of course, along with turning young Skywalker to his side and destroying the Jedi Order, was all supposed to be simple accomplishments.

For most of the Galaxy the Jedi Order was nothing more than a group of hermits, residing in their ivory tower. Their wisdom seemed unquestionable, but no one could say that they were close to the people. The distance they kept, which supposed to make them impartial in conflicts, in reality only helped Palpatine. Who could say that those strange monks, with stranger powers, wanted? Maybe they truly desired to gain the leadership of the Republic, just as the Supreme Chancellor, a favored grandfather figure of the citizens, said?

Palpatine grimaced at the thought of the Order. They were weak, too weak to lead the Republic, even if they wanted to, which they did not. They had allowed themselves to be reduced to being simple diplomats and advisors for even weaker men and women. It was disgusting. To the Sith only the strong had the privilege to rule, the weak were only to serve. That was the foundation of the Rule of Two, each generation to be stronger without the chance of infighting. Now the Galaxy would be under a strong leadership, his leadership.

And the arrogance of the Order was the key to Skywalker. True, a few of the Jedi were allowed to marry, but not young Anakin. He was the Chosen One, meaning he was to be a paragon of the Jedi Code. Palpatine knew that it was an enormous weight on the boy's shoulder, even more so when he started his training under Kenobi. And the Supreme Chancellor was always there to listen to the young boy, to try and help him.

Destroying the Jedi Order was supposed to be a simple affair. It seems, however, that even his plan was flawed. Not so surprising, there wasn't a plan that was perfect. The only real unexpected flaw in it was who threw the wrench in it.

"Master Shaak Ti. I bring terrible news. Less than three hours from now the clone troopers will turn against us."

The old man with scarred face had seen this holo several times already. When the Imperial Central Intelligence Service had cracked the Jedi's files today, they immediately informed him. Aayla Secura. A promising Jedi Knight, the padawan of Master Vos and Master Tholme. She was one of the few who entered in his field of vision. True, it was mainly because she nearly fallen to the Darkside. Yes, if not for the Rule of Two, he would have tried to recruit her as a true Sith. But even so, she would have made a perfect Dark Jedi and acolyte for them. Sadly, while she was rebellious and headstrong, she did not resent the Jedi at all for him to persuade her to abandon them.

Glancing at his new apprentice at the side, he mentally revoked that line of thinking. The transformation of Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader went better than he thought it would. Padme Amidala wasn't killed by one of his assassin as it was planned, but by Darth Vader himself! The only regret was Darth Vader's body. His new armor, forged with Sith alchemy did have its advantages, but Vader will never reach his true potential being locked within it. Maybe not the worst thing as Palpatine wasn't sure he could control the young man if that happened, but that thought was for another time. Now, he had to know how could his plan fail even if not completely.

"The Force sent a vision, Master."

There! There was something... something more to it than what the girl said. There were only two Jedi Masters he would believe hearing this: Master Windu and Master Yoda. The girl lied, no doubt about that. The Force was vibrant and it centered at Felucia.

Something happened on that planet, but what? Or maybe, just maybe someone? Someone who had known about his plan and warned the Jedi about it? But why now at the end of it and not weeks or months before? And who could know anything about it? Lord Tyranus was informed, quite well informed actually, but the man was dead and nearly as secretive as himself. He highly doubted he told anybody about the end of their... his plan.

But the Darkside whispered to him as he mediated on the matter. Someone was on Felucia. Someone strong in the Force, maybe even strong enough to challenge him, Darth Sidious, Lord of the Sith! However, he couldn't be certain since the Force too was chaotic, even for him, to truly get a glimpse of what had happened.

"Lord Vader, your thoughts on the matter?" he asked his apprentice, who was standing at the side of his throne.

The tall figure clad entirely in a dark bodysuit, who was once Anakin Skywalker, inclined his head. "There is something else to it, Master. I believe that Secura was informed by a person rather than the Force," said the new Sith Lord, his voice, made deeper by the armor, resonating in the chamber.

"Yes, Lord Vader, I believe you are right. My meditations on this matter also made me guess someone had interfered with our plan, but your words enforce my thoughts," the Emperor then turned to one of the four Royal Guards stationed in the chamber. "Summon, Captain Jagged Fel! I have a mission for him."

Not long after the command was made, Jagged Fel entered the chambers. No guard in his right mind would make the Emperor wait long. The man was tall and strong as expected of all his bodyguards, but the young captain was exceptional even for a member of the new Galactic Empire's most elite unit. He was clad in the unit's already infamous red armor. It was nearly identical to the late Red Guard's. The fair skinned young man wore no helmet as he knelt before the Emperor. His dark brown, nearly black hair hung back nearly to his shoulder. His eyes were steel grey with a penetrating gaze. A family trait most would say to him, from those who had known his parents. His handsome face, usually so charming, was now a controlled mask as he awaited his mission.

"You summoned me, My Lord? How may I serve you?" he spoke clearly, with the confidence of an accomplished warrior.

The Emperor smiled, seeing one of his favourite 'sons'. Only a select few was allowed to speak out of turn, Darth Vader being the most notorious of them. However, there was also the Royal Guard, his 'sons'. The ones who guarded him, who would die for him in a heartbeat. He treasured them just as a good captain treasures his ship, as a mechanic treasures a good tool.

"You shall go to Felucia and capture the Jedi Knight, Aayla Secura," the Emperor ordered. "There is most likely someone with her, who aided the Order. Capture them as well. I want them alive, Jagged. I hope you understand that?"

"Yes, My Lord," he said as he nodded, but remained kneeling at the bottom of the throne.

"Something bothering you, my son," said Palpatine softly, it was not a question, more of a statement of fact. "Ask it!"

"My Lord, please forgive me for questioning your orders, but shouldn't it be the Inquisitions' role to apprehend the members of the Jedi Order?" Fel asked, a bit uncomfortable with questioning the Emperor.

"Yes it is, in normal circumstances, but this is something much more important," said Palpatine. "I feel that it should be more beneficial to have you lead this mission with their assistance. Combining your strength with that of the Inquisitors, should be enough for this task."

"Your will shall be done, My Emperor," the captain stated as he turned and marched his way out of the chamber. When he cleared the room and went to gather his team.

Core Worlds, Coruscant, Imperial Army Base no. 122

The sun was more than halfway done with its course. The stormtroopers of 344th regiment and parts of other regiments prepared to leave Coruscant in six Venator-class destroyer and escort vessels. Truly, a whole fleet just for one Jedi? But to the soldiers it meant nothing. Clones were bred to follow orders not to question them, even the new civilian recruits were trained so intensely that most would never think about it.

Jagged Fel looked on it with little interest. He had seen how the Army prepared several times. They were efficient sure, but also nearly mechanical, that was something all Royal Guards hate. Mechanical was predictable. What was predictable was easily defeated. Being a Royal Guard meant that you had to excel in both the physical aspect of fighting and the mental. So, while the most personnel, sans a few higher officers, wouldn't think too much about this mission, he did.

'Aayla Secura. A promising Jedi knight from what I could see in her files, but not someone who could be a real danger to the Emperor or his dream. High Medium priority at best,' he thought out, not finding a reason why such resources were put into finding the lone Jedi, 'And the Emperor said he needed her alive! He did said that she had a companion, so maybe it is because of her or him?'

There was also the matter of the Inquisitorial detachment. The Inquisition and the Imperial Royal Guard were the two faces of the same coin. The Royal Guards mainly guarded the Emperor and killed his personnel targets - though never as an assassination, that wasn't their duty. They operated in the daylight, proud and honorable. The Inquisitors were more of the information gatherers and Jedi hunters, treading in the shadows as they eliminated the Emperor's enemy. The Royal Guards occasionally received their help, but still as far as he knew it had never happened before to have a Royal Guard leading a Jedi hunt. Could this be a test? Was the Emperor testing him? But for what? So immersed was he in his thoughts that he nearly didn't hear the footsteps nearing him.

"Jagged?" asked a soft male voice. Turning around, the captain saw his team assembled. Closest to him was his second in command: Trent Kort. The man was hard faced, he had similar built to Fel's, but his hair was lighter and much shorter and brown eyes instead of grey. He was a hard man both in body and mind, despite of his soft voice.

"Yes, Trent? " asked Fel. There was no love lost between them, but they respected each other as warriors, which was much more important if you asked any of the Guard.

"What's our mission?" Kort asked, his eyes searching for something in Jagged's. The young captain glanced the other members. Grodin Tierce, the dark skinned giant with thunderous physical strength. Tono Siel was slim, but nearly as tall as Grodin. A man with dyed blue streak in his black hair and piercing, blue eyes, he was a curious sight in the Guards.

"You read the files we received, didn't you?" he raised an eyebrow as he turned back to Kort. "It's simple: capturing Jedi knight, Aayla Secura, and her accomplices."

"Only a fool would believe this to be a simple 'Jedi hunt'." said Kort with narrowed eyes. "It would be the Inquisition's job otherwise."

"He is right about that, Jagged," Tono said in his cool voice. Grodin didn't speak, but he was obviously on the same mind as his teammates.

"Maybe, but it isn't our duty to question the Emperor," The captain said a bit angry. "It seems that Aayla Secura is more important than what we originally thought. I can only think of one thing that would make the use of such righteous force..."

"... The Massacre." said Trent with a frown. The Massacre was the three hours in which the Jedi was made aware of their betrayal. They made as much chaos in the clone armies as they could. While it was nowhere near to the damages done to the CIS by Lord Vader, it was still significant. And the tactical and strategical backlash from it was so immense that in many sectors it threw back their efforts by months. "You think that it was Secura who warned the Jedi about the Emperor's plan."

"It seems like it wasn't only us who made this deduction," said a voice near to them. Turning to the new arrivals, they came face to face the members of the Inquisition. There were three of them. The leader was an older male human with gray hair and a small beard. His brown eyes were sharp and he had some sort of aura around him. On his right side, was a bald man with brown hair and smiling face, but this smile was that of arrogance and cunning. He was the least fit of the all seven of them. The last, to the left side of the old man, was a woman, younger than Jagged himself. She was beautiful with golden hair cut short, blue eyes like the oceans of Naboo and an hourglass, but fit figure for which every holo-star would be jealous.

"Greetings. My name is Neil Konh, a Senior Inquisitor," said the old man with a friendly tone, even as he trailed his eyes upon the group, evaluating them. Foolishness. They were the finest warriors of the Empire, bar Lord Vader and the Emperor himself. "I believe we never had the fortunate to meet. Allow me to introduce this two. On my left is my apprentice, Morrigan Corde. To my right is Junior Inquisitor Cassius Kio."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Kohn" Captain Fel greeted him in return and nodded to the others. "I'm captain Jagged Fel of the Royal Guard, the commanding officer of this mission. My brothers: Trent Kort, Grodin Tierce and Tono Siel."

The members of the two groups gave curt nods to each other, but made no move to speak up. Jagged could feel a headache coming. Most of the Guards considered the Inquisitors backstabbing cowards with no honor at all. After all, they were mostly made up of the Jedi Service Corps. Rumors said that they found much joy in capturing, torturing and killing their former brothers and sisters in all but blood. And from what he heard, they weren't exactly fond of the Guard either.

"You are Inquisitors... I never worked alongside with one of you," said Trent with a glance at them. "Tell me, Master Kohn... How many Jedi have you killed?" he asked, his voice was curious, but had an undertone of sarcasm about it, causing his captain to look at him worriedly. Trent was blunt and arrogant.

"With my team: five." came the short reply with narrowed eyes glancing at Kort seemingly instantly seeing through the man's false curiosity.

"And your... teammates?" asked Trent with a small smile.

"Two," said Cassius, obviously proud of his kills, if his large smile was anything to go by.

"One." replied Morrigan softly, but firming her eyes as she watched Kort like a hawk, not unlike her mentor.

"So, just out of curiosity... how does it feel to betray your Order and kill your brothers and sisters?" Kort asked with a grin at their reactions: Cassius' angry snarl, Morrigan's furious and narrowed eyes. Grodin and Tono tensed considerably. The only two who had stayed calm were Jagged and Kohn, though both could only barely remain so.

"The Jedi Order cast us aside like garbage. We were nothing more than servants to them. Now with the power granted by the Emperor, we can help the Galaxy just as we always wanted to," the Senior Inquisitor said in a controlled tone.

"As we all shall do," younger captain said, glaring at his teammate. It was going to be hard working together as it was, but now Kort words had done considerable damage to any attempt he may have wanted to do to integrate the two groups. "My apologies, Master Kohn. My brother likes to play with others."

"Apology accepted, Captain Fel," the old inquisitor said with a nod of his head. "Even if it wasn't you who should apologies to us." He glared at Trent and with that the Inquisitors left as swiftly as they arrived.

Jagged instantly turned to Kort when they were out of hearing range. "What was that?" he hissed at the other guard. "We have to work together, and I don't want any of them killing us with a friendly fire accident."

"You don't trust them any more than I do!" Trent fired back, just as vehemently, "We shouldn't work with them..."

"It is the Emperor's orders!" Fel felt like he reached his patience's limit, not for the first time by dealing with Trent. "We may not trust them, but they are still our comrades. The least we can do is to give them a chance to prove themselves."

"I don't think Master Konh or Morrigan Corde will be of any problem," said Grodis with his deep rumbling voice "But the third, that Cassius, he is someone we should watch."

The group silently glanced at each other coming to an understanding without speaking a word. They will watch over that little man as the most likely to cause problem for them out the three.

Jagged stole one last glance at their new companion before turning towards his squad. "Let's go. We will leave in half an hour," he said and led them away.

Hyperspace, 16.10.27

Aayla and Shaak watched from the upper floor as Maris and Harry spared in the cargo hold. Maris used two lightsabers with hilts in the shape of a tonfa, while Harry used one of Aayla's.

"It's rare to see Soresu Jar Kai." Aayla noted, seeing Maris' style. "She's gifted, but still needs to work on it, mainly her footwork," she added as she watched the match below.

"Indeed," Shaak replied. "She was always more of a scholar than a guardian. I hope she can remain on her path, even with what happened... And speaking of gift for lightsaber combat, Harry seems to be able to match her."

"He has an amazing talent for it," the Twi'lek admitted with a nod. "Maybe as much as Skywalker. He should start to learn other forms. I can't teach him more about Shii-Cho, and neither can you."

"Maybe we can start teaching him the basics of all the other forms," Shaak suggested after a moment. "You have all of them down, except the seventh, and it would be beneficial for him in the long run, even if he will be most likely a Djem So user in the end."

"I'm not that sure about that. You haven't seen all of him," said Aayla with a small smile on her lips.

"Oh, I am sure about that. The real question is that have you?" a smile appeared on the Jedi Master's face as she teased the younger woman.

"Master Ti!" Aayla hissed at her.

Shaak just laughed softly and said, "Relax! I am just kidding."

"Our relationship isn't like that," the Twi'lek started to defended herself, but the female Togruta just raised her hand.

"I know that you are not mated with him, but no one can question the depth of your bond. And only a fool would not see your attraction towards him."

"I...I don't understand it myself, Master. I know it's surprising, but I feel like I had known him for a long time already. It's so new to me, Master..." Aayla trailed off seemingly lost as she looked at the ground.

She painfully reminded Shaak of the little Twi'lek girl she once mentored briefly when she first arrived at the Temple. "I think it is understandable, Aayla. He was there for you when you had your life turned upside down. To feel deep appreciation, affection, really just simply a deep bond with him, even love is normal in a situation like yours," Shaak Ti said slowly, taking care to not be misunderstood by poorly chosen words.

"Yeah, but…" the Twi'lek stated, unsure of where this was going.

"You found what you needed in him: comfort, reassurance, stability, safety, answers and maybe even a little peace," she spoke softly as she gently hugged the young woman. "Those were life-changing situations. Those who are around to help you will be the ones you will form a bond the quickest, even if in real life you wouldn't because you don't have anything in common. It is then that people think the stories are true and it is love at first sight, or they are soulmates or something. There are times where it is true to an extent. But if they don't have the foundation for a real relationship and it often won't last long because they want to remain as close to each other as they were at the beginning," lectured the older woman in a soft voice as let go of the hug.

Aayla stared at her for a second. It seemed as Shaak thought it out well before Harry even was in their galaxy. She couldn't help but wonder… "Have you experienced it before?" she asked tentatively.

A small, sad smile appeared on Shaak beautiful face. "Once a long time ago," she replied.

Aayla couldn't decide what to do. One part of her, the part which received many scolding from Master Tholme for being too curious for her own good, wanted to hear the story, but another part of her, didn't want to appear as rude to a woman she respected and looked up to, both as a mentor and a role-model.

Shaak, of course, saw her internal debate and diffused it with a promise, "I will tell you that story someday, Aayla. It is an old and regrettable tale; however, right now we have bigger problems than our personal lives."

"Thank you, Master... I mean, Shaak!" the younger woman quickly corrected herself upon seeing the other woman's glare, which turned into a soft smile.

"It is ok, Aayla. But please remember that it may not be what you first think is," she reminded her.

Aayla didn't need to ask what she meant by 'it'. "So, it's not real?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, it is real," Shaak Ti assured her, "but if you don't know the other person, how could you remain close to him or her? You simply cannot. You and Harry... well, you are good for each other from what I have seen. You have good instincts, Aayla, and I trust them. I trust you to make the right choice."

"You mean between the Jedi Code and Harry, right?" the confused Jedi Knight asked, glancing down at Harry, following his movements with her eyes.

"No, not really," said the Jedi Master, causing her to whip her gaze from Harry's form to the older woman's face. The Togruta woman uncharacteristically giggled at her, "I do not think that it will matter anymore, the old Code at least. If we want to survive this we, the Order, need to change." Her face turned dead serious. "Even without the Code it is a huge change in your life. One you can easily came to regret." Then the older woman abruptly started walking toward her cabin, glancing over her shoulder at the Twi'lek woman "I will meditate in my room, Aayla. Please, think long about what I have said."

Aayla looked after the Jedi Master, her mind already starting to find the answers to her questions. Did she want to risk what she and Harry had? Did Harry even want anything more? He may want to travel to the Wild Space to search for his home planet. Those thoughts had already passed her mind several times on their stay at Felucia, but she let herself forget about them for the time being. Now, however, when there was a way for Harry to leave them, she will have to face it.

"Aayla?" came the voice of only male occupant of the ship from behind her. Apparently Maris and Harry finished their spar, and Maris also retired somewhere else, probably meditating in her cabin as well. "Is something wrong?" he asked after seeing her face.

"It's nothing, Harry. Just let's...let's forget about it for a moment, ok?" Aayla asked the man, who just shrugged. If she wanted him to know what was bothering her, she'd tell him. "It seems that you got few bruise and burns from Maris," she observed, looking him over.

It was true. Even if they were on their lowest power output, lightsabers still burned. And despite their martial arts centering on their lightsabers, the Jedi apparently used kicks and punches as well, if the need arose. So Harry, being the less experienced, got a few wounds from the Jedi girl. It was only thanks to his nearly inhuman reflexes and better stamina that he could fight her more or less evenly.

"Yeah, she got me good," he nodded good naturedly, not at all bothered by being outmatched by a teenager at all. He had his pride, but was intelligent enough to realize that he only trained in it for half a month and could go with someone who trained years before he even heard about lightsaber combat. "I'll heal myself soon."

"No, I'll teach you something new today. Healing trance," Aayla said as she grabbed him when he started to go to his room.

"It sounds interesting," Harry said, looking intrigued.

"It's quite simple actually, at least theoretically," blue-skinned woman said.

"What isn't?" came the messy-haired man's dry remark. The Patronus charm was easy as well, in theory. You focused on happy thoughts, feelings really, shouted the charm and boom: a guardian of light appeared. Yet, few could truly form a corporeal Patronus.

As Aayla said it was simple. Meditating was about being immersed in the Force. If you focus the energy into the wounds, they will heal at an accelerated rate. If you use too much, then it was possible to make your injuries worse.

"Legends say, that some who master this technique can use it even in battles of the mind, but I really doubt it that could be true," she said as she looked on Harry's attempts.

"Those tales could be real. You'd be surprised what ordinary wizards thought was impossible, but with the right training they got it right," he replied. He had already imagined how useful it could be. Healing spells would have to be cast with it, well at least on one of his hands. Not something you wanted to do, or even had time to do in a serious battle. Of course his fantasy was only that at the moment, since he couldn't even do the basics of it.

Aayla just shook her head. Knowing Harry, he already decided to train until he could heal anytime he wanted, even in battle. She learned by now that if nothing else he was incredibly stubborn. "Harry, can I speak with you about something?"

"Of course," the man replied, getting off the floor.

"I didn't want to ask this on Felucia, but we've left so..." Aayla looked away. "You can leave to the Wild Space, to search for you planet. We could drop you off at any city. The Empire doesn't know who you are..."

"Aayla," Harry cut her off, his voice serious, "I don't want to leave you alone."

For a moment she was speechless. For nearly an hour now she tried to prepare herself for Harry's decision. A predictable one for her. Harry had friends and family where he came from, maybe not a wife or children, but family nonetheless. So she had to ask, "Why?"

"Because, I want to help you," Harry responded with a small smile. "There are other factors, but even without those I would stay."

"Thank you," she softly replied as she hugged him. She didn't care what other reasons, what was important was that he was remaining here to help her.

Outer-Rim Territories, Felucia, 16.10.26

"They were on that ship," said Jagged to his companion as he watched the YU-410 light freighter jump into hyperspace.

"Yes, but how would you know?" Master Kohn asked, eyeing the young man next to him "There was most likely a Jedi on that ship, but..."

"All members of Royal Guard are Force sensitive, Master Inquisitor," Fel replied evenly. "Some more than others I believe, but tasks like that are quite easy for most of us."

"Mainly for you, I imagine," the Inquisitor murmured. "I think you have much potential. Though how much exactly I cannot say."

"Maybe," allowed Jagged. In truth he had known about it, but never reached for it. The temptation was there, to try and became even more powerful, but his willpower never let him do it. The Emperor would never let him train his power, not without his permission first. "The Emperor doesn't want us to use the Force outside of our combat abilities, so we don't train with it like the Jedi," he stated firmly.

"Hmm, it's a pity. You could be even more formidable than what you are now," the older man mused. "More powerful to better serve the Emperor, but his word is law so we can't do anything." He paused then turned to Jagged and asked, "What's our next move? Their vector points to Ossus."

"I don't believe they would head there. It's too close and obvious. However, we should send a ship there just in case," Jagged stated as he looked at the Galaxy map near them. "I think we can safely assume that they want to remain in the Outer-Rim, or perhaps in the Mid-Rim. From what I can gather, they will go to the Galactic South. To the north, they would have to cross the Hydian Way, which we control near entirely."

"But, they would also get too close to the Hutt Space if they want to go to the south. I don't believe that a free Twi'lek woman, like Aayla Secura who is a Jedi to boot, would want to be near to those slave traders," replied Kohn reasonably.

"We shall see. I think we should go to Ossus at least for now and send one ship to both Lianna and Columex," said the younger man.

Master Kohn pondered on it for a moment then nodded his in consent, so Jagged turned to the captain. "Captain Berger, please inform the fleet of our orders," he ordered.

"Right away commander," the blond man in the captain's chair nodded.

"Until we come face with our adversaries, we should keep our skills sharp," said the Senior Inquisitor, looking outside the star destroyer.

"Then we shall train. Care to show me the Senior Inquisitor's strength?" Fel replied with a smirk. They had the best relationship out of their groups and had formed a tentative, but steadily growing, friendship.

"Lead the way, youngster."

The two had kept silence until in the elevator. Then the older man said in a calm voice, but he watched the young captain out of the corner of his eyes, "I have never thought that I would serve under the Emperor's nephew..."

Jagged whipped his head in the senior inquisitor direction. "I don't know what you are talking about," he denied.

"Please, there are a lot of people still who remember the news of Lady Aeris Palpatine's and Admiral Soontir Fel's marriage," Kohn replied with a wave of his hand, "and the news spread in the military since the Empire formed... soon, everyone will know."

"It doesn't matter," the young captain stated in a controlled voice. "I am only a captain of the Royal Guard. Nothing more, nothing less."

"That is where you are wrong. You are the heir of the Empire," the Inquisitor said softly.

Jagged only snorted upon hearing that. "The heir of the Empire?" he asked back. "Even if something would happen to my uncle, I couldn't imagine Lord Vader, or Tarkin, allowing anyone else taking the throne."

"Maybe, but I'm sure many would also support you."

They did not speak of this —or other things for that matter, until they arrived to the gym. Morrigan was in a duel with Grodin, while Tono was with Cassius. Trent was off to the side watching them like a hawk. The Royal Guard used their dual vibro blade, while the Inquisitors used lightsaber spikes with great efficiency.

"They are good. Morrigan especially," Fel said, following the young woman's every movement.

"She has great promise," Kohn agreed, his pride as her teacher showing for a moment. "If we complete this mission, I can officially grant her the Junior Inquisitor title."

"Is she better than Cassius?"

"I do not want to be seen as someone who favors his student above others, but, yes. Cassius is cunning, but hot-headed. Morrigan also can be, but Cassius is more than a decade her senior. Morrigan has time to mature, he does not," Kohn replied with a shrug. "She is very talented. I doubt I can train anyone close to her level for a long time."

"You are proud of her," the young captain said simply.

"I am. Who wouldn't be?"

Fel couldn't help but grin a little at that. Seeing Morrigan defeating Grodin who was infamous in the Guard for his martial prowess only caused his smile to widen. "Indeed."

Hyperspace, 16.10.27

The healing trance was harder to learn than Harry thought it will be. He had the basics down in very little time, but advanced techniques escaped his grasp, for now. He was quite tired and only wanted to sleep until morning as he sat on the bed in his and Aayla's room, which happened to be the captain's quarters. Even though they had enough rooms for everybody, the Twi'lek girl insisted on staying with him, not that he had much against it.

Aayla was in the shower and should finish in a minute or so. As if summoned by his thoughts, the shower was cut off and after a minute she appeared in the door. She was in a bikini, revealing her toned thighs and the swell of her bosom. She was breathtaking, even more so than usually. Harry considered himself lucky to have this beauty, both in mind and body, beside him.

Aayla gently lay next to him. She snuggled to him completely at ease with him seeing more of her than any other man ever did. Harry smiled softly at her and they stayed relaxed, basking in the presence of the other, until a scream rang through the ship. Both recognized the voice at once.

"Maris!"

The couple ran there without even putting on some clothes. Arriving to the other end of the corridor, they found the door ajar. Glancing inside much to their relief, they saw Maris and Shaak with the older woman hugging the sobbing teen to herself.

"What happened?" Aayla asked softly as she slowly crept into the room towards the bed. But Maris' and Shaak's face told everything. Nightmares. "Harry! Get in there!"

Harry poked his head into the room. He raised his eyebrow to her showing her his confusion. Aayla nearly rolled her eyes at him as she motioned to the bed.

The messy-haired man looked at Maris and Shaak's face for a moment then nodded his head in consent. He sat next to Maris and scoped her in his arms. Maris clung to him, not really caring at the moment that she was only in a black thong and a black strapless top. He gently got up, carrying her bridal style, and marched to his and Aayla's room, where he laid them down on the bed.

Aayla also led Shaak within the room and to the bed. The Togruta woman was also in nearly nothing, but a leather thong and bikini top, besides the armband on her right arm. She looked at the Twi'lek unsurely, but Aayla nodded firmly and lead the woman to Harry.

Harry gathered the women to his sides as Maris lay on his chest. Shaak couldn't help but do the same as she snuggled closer to the man's side. She didn't even register the small smile that appeared on the corner of her lips as she fell asleep.

In the morning Harry woke up in every man's fantasy: three scantily clad, beautiful women surrounding him. Aayla also woke up not a minute later, thankfully never mentioning his wandering hands. The two left the room, first to get dressed and then to the kitchen.

After only a few short minutes, they were joined by Shaak and Maris. Thankfully both were also wearing their everyday clothes. After finishing the rest of his toast in two bites, Harry quickly left the room.

"He has quite a few scars," Shaak commented as she remembered seeing them the night before, but didn't want to bring it up in front of him. Turning towards Aayla, she asked, "Did he tell you what caused them?"

"No. I didn't ask about it. It was... I don't know, I just didn't want to make him uncomfortable," the Twi'lek answered as she shook her head.

"I do not think he would think like that. And if they have left different wounds not yet healed, then it would be wise to speak about them," Shaak spoke from experience. Some wounds are just that, wounds, but those have a history behind them that should be spoken of.

"I will check on Harry," Aayla said abruptly.

"I will go with you. We still have hours before we arrive at Trogan."

They found him sitting in front of the screen in the cockpit designed for the com officer. It seemed that since you couldn't catch the holo-news in the hyperspace, Harry opted to use the ship's computer to find out whatever he could on their destination.

Trogan was a small planet in the Outer-Rim. He couldn't find anything of noteworthy about it. It seemed average or even less than that.

"How's it going, Harry?" the Twi'lek asked.

"It would go much better without you lot as distractions," he deadpanned at them, which the two Jedi women found hilarious for some reason. Harry himself grinned, after a few moments. Truth be told, it was nice that they feel secure enough around him to allow this. "I have one question though. What is the Hutt Space? I assume it would have to do something with the Hutts, but..." he trailed off uncertain.

"It has a lot to do with them," Aayla said darkly. "It's that territory of the Galaxy where the Hutt cartels have the highest authority. Their word is law there."

"Which makes it probably one of the most dangerous places for Aayla," Shaak continued.

"I don't understand, why would Aayla specifically be in danger there?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Did you offend one by any chance?"

"Not more than others, but they are slavers. Well, most of them," the Jedi Master replied, "and Aayla being a Twi'lek and an exceptionally beautiful one at that..."

Harry was confused. They were slavers, which made him hate them just on principle, but why would it mean that only Aayla was in danger? Shaak and Maris were beautiful as well. "What does Aayla being a Twi'lek have to do with any of this?"

The Togruta woman's eyes widened at that. She eyed Harry for a moment, before turning her gaze towards the Twi'lek incredulously. "You didn't tell him?

"No, not yet anyway," she replied with a wince.

"What are you two talking about?" Harry asked Aayla.

"I didn't really explain what being a Twi'lek woman meant," she answered. "In the traditional Twi'lek society, women only have three ways to live her life; a housewife/breeder, a spoiled princess or a sex-slave for men.

"That's awful!" Harry couldn't find the words for something like that. Even if muggles were a bit behind the magicals when it came to equality between genders, which was one of the reasons that they considered muggles barbaric, he considered it normal. "How could it be? I mean Ryloth was part of the Republic, wasn't it? Surely there were laws against something like that?"

"Honestly, it doesn't matter with an Outer-Rim planet. Some just say that they choose this life, fearing their husband's wrath. Others truly enjoy this life, even the sex-slaves," said Aayla as if she could care less about all of that, but the fire behind her eyes and the tightening of her fists gave her away. "Twi'leks are more... sensual than humans, after all."

"It did not help that the Republic did not want to meddle in the personal affairs of one planet," Shaak explained. "Officially, there was not a single slave trade for centuries, even if everyone knew it what happened, those who wanted to help were not able to. Those who could have been able were bribed in one way or another."

"And with most of the Senate becoming so corrupt that they would sell even their planets for the right price, they didn't have much difficulty," Aayla hissed through gritted teeth.

"Too true." the Togruta woman nodded in agreement.

Trogan, 16.10.28

Trogan was a beautiful world from space. It reminded Harry of Earth, since it was covered mainly by an ocean and the one continent seemed to mostly remain out of urbanization and industrial development as it was a lush green color. But the three girls behind him reminded him that the outside means very little. Trogan had terrible weather conditions, mainly because the winds and tornados.

They landed in one of the cheaper hangars, far from the city center. Aayla and Maris wore their usual clothing, but Shaak needed to shed the traditional Jedi tunic. She had a brown tunic with nice fur trim and a golden necklace. Harry added the clone's armor chest piece that he got from the armory, to his regular clothing. He removed the paint from it, to make it less recognizable, and then enameled it black.

While the ramp went down, Maris turned to Harry with determination in her eyes. "Harry, I... you helped me with... last night. I would like you to have this, as my thanks," she said as she handed him a lightsaber. "This was my Master's lightsaber and now I want you to have it."

"You don't have to do this Maris. A simple thank you is enough," he replied. He was reluctant to accept such an honor, but the young Jedi was insistent.

"I know, but when you... helped, I felt safe, safer than any moment since... the Temple," she said with a light blush. "Besides, you need a lightsaber..."

Harry for a moment stared at the lightsaber in his hand, and then hugged the Jedi girl to him, causing her to let out a startled 'eep'. "Thanks, Maris. I will treasure it always."

The girl only nodded into his chest, reluctant to leave the comforting presence of the man. But only moments after, she had to since the ramp had reached the floor of the hangar and they had to go into the city.

"I want to buy a fighter or two," Aayla said, looking at Shaak. The older woman reluctantly nodded back. If for any reason they will need to part ways it can come in handy. Not to mention that Aayla liked having a Starfighter. "I will search for someone selling. We can meet up here in an hour or so."

"Maybe I can make it so you will not need to search," Shaak offered with a bit of hesitation. "One of my associates has an establishment in the capital. She could help us greatly with her connections."

"Who is she?"

"She is a Hutt," the Jedi Master replied with a sigh, knowing the younger woman's reaction.

"Master! A Hutt? Those slavers..."

"Calm yourself, Aayla. She isn't like most of them, and she has no slaves. She trades with information and other goods, but no live cargo," Shaak explained patiently, if a bit exasperated. "I hope you did not seriously believe that I would suggest a slaver, in times like this?"

Aayla seemed both embarrassed and a bit angry at herself, "No! I mean you said Hutt and I..."

Fortunately Shaak didn't need more than that. "It's alright; I made the same mistake when I first met her. But she is different from them. You will see."

"I believe you, Master," Aayla replied, still a bit unsure about meeting a Hutt, who apparently won't want to enslave her.

The bar which Shaak led them to was what Harry would call traditional Japanese or Chinese style three story building, standing near to the port. For some reason Shaak didn't use the front door and instead went to the back. There were two groups, in cheap worker and space traveler clothes, exchanging goods. A male Zabrak was observing them, with more prominent horns than Maris and a nonfigurative tattoo on the left side of his hard face. He had a long cloak on his muscular frame hiding his blaster from view, but they all caught a glimpse of it as he moved towards them.

"Greetings, Brask. I would like to request a meeting with your mistress," Shaak spoke softly, trying to avoid alerting the others.

The two groups instantly stopped and several members placed their hands on their blaster. Harry could see two men near the backdoor with heavy blasters, leveling their guns at them. Brask motioned them to stand down and to continue with what they had been doing. After a moment, his group and the guards did so and then the others followed suit.

"Greetings. My mistress is currently very busy, but I'll inform her of your desire to meet her," he said in a rough voice, but not unkindly. He was a warrior that was sure. He moved a little bit further from the group and took a comlink out one of his coat's several pockets. After a minute or two of talking, he went back to their group. "She'll meet with you, but I'll have to ask you to surrender your weapons to us for that time."

"I don't remember that I ever did so before," Shaak Ti said with a little frown, while Harry, Aayla and Maris scowled. None of them wanted to go anywhere without at least one weapon.

"She didn't request it. I did, since I'm responsible for her safety I make the call on that matter," Brask explained as one of the groups left, while the other stood next to him.

"Why not a compromise?" Harry suggested, before the situation became something none of them wanted, "Maris and I will surrender our weapons, and you add several other guards to oversee the meeting."

Brask seemed startled for a minute, clearly not expecting anyone else to speak up, but after a minute nodded in consent. "Acceptable. I can see why a Twi'lek girl would have problem with going into a place like ours unarmed. Come inside."

After handing over the three lightsabers and Harry's gun, the Zabrak and five other guards escorted them to the second floor of the building. They had a nice view on the main chamber of the bar as they went up the stairs. There was a Zeltron and a Twi'lek girl dancing much to the crowd's delight.

Coming in the office, Harry saw his first Hutt in real life. The holo-net did no justice to her. She was a giant slug at first glance with a bikini top on her bosom. She wore makeup: purple eyeshadow and lipstick and right eye was replaced with a biotic one made from ruby red, synthetic crystal. In her hands was the end of a hookah. She had a kind smile on her face and a warm look in her eyes.

"Shaak Ti. It's been awhile since I last saw you, my dear. Where have you been, little one?" she asked a deep, but feminine voice, full affectionate. Harry could only imagine her as a loving aunty from the voice, but from Aayla told him about the Hutts, it was probably a mask. Shaak went to her and hugged the Hutt, much to the shock of the room. And the owner of the building hugged her back as much as she could.

"Queen Jool, always a pleasure. I had other matters which have prevented me from seeing you," Shaak said with a soft smile. "Let me introduce my companions; Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, Padawan Maris Brood and our ally, Harry Potter." Maris and Harry bowed slightly, while Aayla only bowed her head.

Queen Jool glanced at them amused by Aayla rudeness and the politeness of Harry and Maris. "And what can I help you with Shaak? As much as I would like to reminisce about the old times you don't have time for that. Not with the bounties of your group," she said. "Neither do I, to be honest. The rise of this Empire shook the clans."

"I wanted your help, but if you have enough problem without our own to add, we can solve it ourselves if needed," The Tortuga woman said, which caused the Hutt to shake her head.

"Problems? Why would I have problems? I need to gather a bit of information for the cartels to calm them, but that's all."

"Well, Brask asked us that we surrender our weapons to them and I thought that you had some ..."

"No, no more than usual." Jool said with narrowed eyes. "Brask, next time, please don't bother Shaak and her friends."

"Yes, ma'am." Brask seemed to doubt the wisdom of his orders, but didn't question them, at least not with visitors being present.

"Now that being solved, what can I help you with young one?" she turned back to Shaak.

"We need information. Anything you feel we could use is welcome," Shaak Ti explained. "Aayla also wants to purchase a couple of Starfighters."

"Maybe, there is one merchant near the edge of the city. He had a couple of them a couple of weeks ago. As you know, I don't really care for small things like that. However, I also have to warn you, he has a customer who is powerful and would pay a hefty price for the Twi'lek girl," The Hutt seemed amused at this for some reason.

"Ah, and who might be this powerful person might be?" asked Shaak with a raised eyebrow.

"Captain Steffon Skaven, the leader of the largest pirate fleet in the nearby sectors. He would like not just those ships, but your friends as well," Jool replied. "Though, I would be surprised if he could keep her."

"Jool, I have another favour to ask. Can you tell me that you can about what happened in the Galaxy?" the Togruta asked the information broker.

The large Hutt frowned a little, "You know that I trade with information, right? But, I like you, so this time around you don't have to pay." She laughed merrily, "It went to deep-space since the Empire emerged. Palpatine has kept most of the military in the Core, the Colonies and the Inner-Rim so they won't rebel against him. The Separatists have lost more than two-thirds of their army for some reason. Rumors say that it was Vader, Palpatine's apprentice, who did it somehow. And you Jedi did some damage to the Empire as well!"

"I hope they paid dearly for what they did to us," came Aayla angry voice.

"They sure did! You lot caused as much panic and chaos that it still has to reorganize itself." Queen Jool grinned at the Twi'lek girl. "Sadly they didn't lose that much manpower, perhaps, about ten percent at the most. But the 501th regiment lost more than half of its members at the Temple, for what it worth."

"Good."

"They deserved it."

"Indeed," Jool nodded. She may be a criminal, but that didn't mean she liked betrayers any better than the next man. "As I said, the Empire has his military close to the Core and the CIS have retreated to several strongholds in the Rim. The rest of the Galaxy is up to the acklays. Raiders, pirates, slavers, marauders... all kind of scumbag are pillaging what they can, like a horde of nexus."

"So, basically it's even worse them during the Clone War," The blue-skinned woman said, frowning heavily.

"You could say that. But, for you it's a blessing in disguise," the Hutt replied in matter of fact voice.

"It will be easier to remain unnoticed by the Empire in this chaotic situation," Harry said with a little smile.

"Exactly," Queen Jool nodded.

"Do you have any information on any other Jedi?" Aayla asked anxiously.

"I only heard that Master Yoda attacked the Emperor, but had to retreat without injuring him. And that one General... Rahm Kota was it? He and his fleet were last seen near Sluis Van, but they disappeared. I believe they went to the Unknown Region or the Wild Space," Jool said after a moment to gather her thought.

"Thank you. I'm glad they couldn't catch Master Kota," the Jedi Knight said sincerely.

"But if we don't move soon, we can be caught," Maris said in worried tone.

"She is right. I apologies to cut our meeting short, but..." Shaak said to the Hutt.

"Think nothing of it, dear. Maybe next time, you won't have an entire galactic government on your heels and we can chat without fearing being caught." The information mistress didn't seemed put out, but neither was she pleased with the short audience. They nodded one last time to her and exited the chamber. As they made their way, Aayla glanced back at the female Hutt. Jool merely raised an eyebrow at her. "Something you want to say little Twi'lek?"

"You're not like what I expected," Aayla confessed.

"Aye. You better stop trusting stereotypes girl," Jool cautioned her. "It can get you killed in the Outer-Rim. And after all, you aren't a cock-starved little slut, like the rumors say female Twi'leks are, are you?"

Aayla couldn't answer to that. She was angry even if she shouldn't be. She heard even more degrading rumors about Twi'leks, Twi'lek females in particular. And Queen Jool spoke the truth when she said she should start being open-minded. So, she just turned and hurried after her friends.

True enough, just as Queen Jool said, the merchant, near to the edge of Kergara, was shady enough to buy anything if it meant profit. The shop itself was small, but the yard behind it was large. It had to be, because it was full with ships, parts of the ships and wrecks. In truth it was between a junkyard and a store of ships.

"What do you have in mind, Y-wings perhaps?"

"We thought about two Z-95 headhunters," Shaak replied. Aayla had very specific ideas concerning their new Starfighters and the Z-95 seemed the best for them. It was a fairly fast, multifunctional fighter having a hyperdrive.

"You are lucky. I have some in pristine condition! Now, we just have to agree on the price."

"Sixty thousands credits," Shaak started. It was a fair price for two of those.

"Their paint's faded a bit, but aside of that they are in perfect condition. Add another forty thousands and we have a deal," the merchant countered

"Twenty thousands, and we can see if can run a system check before paying," Shaak said to which the merchant, after a moment of hesitation, nodded.

Not long after the exchange, Queen Jool sent them a message that she found out something important. Aayla and Harry remained at the ship to take the two fighters into the cargo hold, while Maris and Shaak went to Joy's bar.

"What do you think Jool found that she thought it may interest us?" Harry asked his partner, after they secured their new fighters.

"I don't know, but she has an impressive information network from what Shaak told us. And she likes us, well Shaak, so maybe it's something really helpful for us?" Aayla guessed.

"We'll soon know it. They've returned," he said, nodding at the hangar door. True to his words the two Jedi had just entered through it.

"What happened?" Aayla asked the two.

"She mentioned that Kessel is out of question for us. There is a whole fleet there, making it perhaps the largest concentration of Imperial Forces in the Outer-Rim," Shaak explained. "But she mainly wanted to give us one bit of information. It seems that Narks Fey'ka is here and wants to sell something to the pirate captain Queen Jool mentioned, in an hour or so."

"And who is Narks Fey'ka?" Harry asked.

"The older brother of Koth Fey'ka, a general of the CIS. Koth had a good information network and could create great battle plans according to them, but it had to go without interruption. When something unexpected happened, he most often tried to stick with his original plan," Aayla explained. He was not good with pressure and not the best quality for a general.

"Narks alone managed their family business, after Koth joined the Confederate," Shaak continued. "If Jool's informant was right, then he wants to sell a Lucrehulk-class battleship and a Providence-class battle cruiser."

"What should we do?" Aayla turned to the Togruta Jedi Master, "We could kill Narks, but..."

"I think we should capture the ships," Harry interjected. All three of them turned towards him with confused expression.

"Why? We can't utilize them with just the four of us," Aayla protested.

"True. But if we can find those who want the Republic back, and believe me when I say there will be millions of them, then we'll have at least one big battleship and can start a rebellion," He replied, causing the three women to look at him in surprise.

"Rebellion?" Maris asked back.

"Yes," He said firmly. "I meant what I said, I want to help you and as long as the Emperor lives, you will always be in danger. We'll have to fight back sometime in the future. Perhaps not tomorrow, not the next week, month or year, but at some point in time, we will."

The three Jedi hadn't really thought that far into the future, nor did they have to see the world from a fugitive's perspective, but Harry did.

"Where is Narks?" Aayla asked after a moment.

"He stays at the Whistler's Whirlpool Hotel, near the city," Maris supplied.

Whistler's Whirlpool Hotel was exotic, since it was built in the Drinking Cup, a natural, bowl shaped pit on the edge of the ocean. During tidal shifts there were whirlpools under it. A truly magnificent phenomenon, but unfortunately they didn't have the time to enjoy it.

The Whirlpool had three parts; the main hall, which was a bar and restaurant, the administration wing and two wings, which had nearly a thousand suites for visitors, even if some of them hadn't been used in decades, thanks to the lessening interest in the Drinking Cup. The bar seemed nearly full with smugglers, pirates, mercenaries and other shady people. The crowd didn't seem to pay any attention to them. Even the staff didn't bat an eye when they moved to the left wing.

"Ok, so sixth floor, 318th room. It will be..." Harry said, observing the rooms, "this is the 305th and that is the 306th, so that way."

At the front of the door, they could hear the sounds of the activity inside. There was moaning and grunting. Maris was blushing so hard it was nearly laughable to Harry.

"Do you think that... we should wait until... they finish?" she asked them.

"Nope," Harry said with a little grin. "If it makes you uncomfortable, you can stay here and stand guard for us."

Maris only nodded shyly, making Harry shrug his shoulders. Shaak wanted to enter subtly, but Harry had other plans. He simply kicked the door open, and then moved confidently inside the suit. Upon entering the bedroom, it became clear that they shouldn't have worry about it. The Bothan was half and a meter in height and looked like a bipedal dog. Narks was still behind a cream colored Twi'lek girl on all fours.

With a fickle of his wrist, Harry separated them. He could care less about the Bothan's pleasure and the courtesan was obviously only slightly pleased by his performance. Both of them whipped their heads in the direction of the three uninvited guests. With another flick, the Twi'lek girl was covered by the blanket and Narks by a towel.

"Aayla, please watch the girl," Harry requested. The girl could be a simple prostitute, but just as easily, a trained assassin who fucked her boss on occasion.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Narks shouted, outraged. "Do you know who I am?"

"Why do you think we come to this suite?" Harry asked drily. Seriously, what did he think? "Of course we know. So cut the crap. I'm not in a mood to deal with your stupidity. I need information and now."

Narks wasn't stupid. He clearly knew that he couldn't escape the room. But he could lie to them about this information they wanted.

Unfortunately, Harry really wasn't in the mood to do it the hard way. He easily intruded the Bothan mind. Legitimacy wasn't his forte thanks to Snape's action in his fifth year which left him in disgust at the 'mental arts' as some called it. The Bothan's thought process was... alien for him, despite how much it was cliché. It had taken much more time to find the information he needed and then cover it in Narks' mind.

"I have it," He said to the others as he made Narks unconscious with a spell. He could feel the displeasure rolling of the two women, and he could see a long discussion of this on board of the ship, but thankfully they remained silent for now. Harry then scanned the mind of the Twi'lek girl. It seemed that she was simple what she looked: a prostitute. Stepping forward to erase her memories of them, Aayla and Shaak stopped him, the older sadly shaking her head at him.

"There was no need for that, Harry."

Harry wanted no argument, at least not now and not here. So he nodded. They will need to speak about it. Then he placed a hundred credit coin into the Twi'lek's hand and said, "For your trouble."

And with that they exited the room, leaving a wide-eyed girl inside with a stupors Bothan. Harry handed her more money than what she made in a month after all.

They just got down the stairs, when the Whirlpool's front exploded. There were seven figures there, four in red armor and three in black armor. Behind them, there was a company of Stormtroopers and two times that many Imperial army soldiers.

One of the men in red armored suit, who was clearly the leader said, "Greetings, Jedi. We are here to take you before the Emperor."


	5. 5 Battles

**AN1: Sorry for the long wait! I will update more frequently onwards, but I also want to publish another series soon. (I don't know if I should tell you this but this is the chapter I was the least pleased with, but I hope the rewrite made it better.)**

 **AN2: Please leave a rewrite! I know I usually don't ask for them this plainly, but I really want to know what you think about this fanfic/rewrite. Constructive critism is most welcome!**

 **POLL: I watched the new Star Wars film. Before I did I didn't like the idea of a crossguard on a lightsaber. While I don't exactly like it I can see its relevance.**

 **So, I decided to leave the decision in your hands in a poll at my profile. I may only able to put it out tomorrow as I will go to the new Batman vs Superman in a few minutes and never tried something like that.**

 **The poll will be hidden so everyone choose those two option she/he likes. The poll will be active till it's time for Harry to build his lightsaber so at least five or six chapter longer. If there is a very close (1 percent) difference in the 1st and second choice I will create another poll with only those two choice.**

 **This chapter was beta-ed by Fairywm as well. I honestly think she does an amazing job at it. Thank you!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter IV

Battles

Ossus, 16.10.27

When he got back to his quarters, Jagged could only sigh as he disrobed from his sweat soaked shirt. His room was Spartan and to him perfect. He used nothing, no decoration and no luxury. Maybe it was because of his training maybe it was because of his observation how it corrupted most, he hated the life of the upper tens. Most likely both of those were part of it.

Sitting down at his table and looking over their situation on his terminal, he couldn't help but frown. Looking back at today he was pleased with what he had seen in the gym. His team was highly capable, so even if they did have to go against more than just Aayla Secura and her mysterious companion they should be enough.

The problem was that if they don't know where to find them it was meaningless if they could fight them. He had no idea where to even begin the search for that YU-410 freighter above Felucia. There were messages sent to every planet in the surrounding sectors, but he knew their chance to catch it was slim at best. While YU-410 wasn't the most widely used freighter, not even from the Corellian Engineering Corporation's product line, there should be tens of thousands if not more of them in each sector.

That wouldn't be much of an issue in peacetime. Now however, it was something very, very difficult to do. Most planets only started to adapt to the slowly stabilizing situation. And the initial state was near complete chaos so it wasn't good by any definition of the word 'good'.

So he did what any reasonable commander would do: searched and observed the major trade routes, having the I.C.I.S. (Imperial Central Intelligence Service) notifying him of any sighting of the duo —and whoever is with them.

What else he could do? He didn't know. This position unnerved him greatly. He was trained excessively in all matters of combat, both defensive and offensive situations. But he couldn't place himself in the same situation as the Jedi on the run in his mind to know what they will do. The order to move half of his fleet to Ossus was on a hunch, instinct as an average man would say, the Force if he had to. His mind had gone into overdrive with thoughts and plans, only for him to dismiss them one after another. He knew that he needed to calm down and look again into the matter from the outside.

He sat down to meditate. He could feel his mind calming, his thoughts silencing and his emotions damping. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. He groaned at being interrupted, but got to his feet and went to the door. Opening it he was surprised to find Morrigan Corde on the other side. The young woman didn't speak much with or to him, or anyone else for that matter. He couldn't help raising an eyebrow at her appearance in front of his door.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked leaning against the door frame.

"Yes, can I come in, Commander?" She asked softly, her eyes were now globes of ice instead their oceanic color of yesterday. Jagged nodded and stood aside, letting her in his room. She glanced around, evaluating his room and by it him. When she turned to her host, there was a little smirk on her lips.

"What is it?" the rugged man asked with his own little smile, amused at the woman. You can't really read someone by his workplace, not entirely at least, even if she would disagree with him on that.

"From your room, I would say that my first thought of you was correct," she said as her smirk widened a bit.

"Oh, and what that would be?" he asked, leaning against the wall beside the door while crossing his arms.

Morrigan shrugged in response, "That you are a calm and serious individual, Commander." She looked around again as if to affirm her thoughts. "A man who wants to learn about others and who wants to unite us to our common goal," she added.

"That's all?" he asked a bit disappointed. That wasn't much and could easily be seen by his daily routine.

She shrugged, clearly careless if his opinion on her changed or not. "There are other things, but for now: yes, that's all, Commander."

"Can we stop this 'Commander' business? Please call me Jagged at least when we are alone," he requested with a charming smile. He had to listen to it all day long. 'Commander this' or 'Commander that'... it was something he was looking forward to leave behind. Most of the officers were good or even great at what they did, but there were others who clearly needed a permission to use the restroom.

Morrigan raised her eyebrow at him, clearly not seeing his point at all. Finally she replied in an emotionless voice, "That would be inappropriate and we don't know each other good enough for that."

Jagged smirked at that and waved her concerns aside. "No, nothing like that, I just don't want us to remain in this cold-war like thing that Kort and that Cassius fellow encourage," he said, even if he admitted to himself that he wouldn't mind to get to know Morrigan better, but any serious relationship was forbidden in the Royal Guard.

Her mask, which she wore since his offer was made, melted into a soft smile for a second. "I see. Then you may call me Morrigan, Jagged."

"Thank you, Morrigan," he spoke her name slowly as if trying out how it sounded on his lips, before focusing on her again. "While I'm glad you decided to join me, I would wager it wasn't just for the opportunity to see my room."

Her next words froze him completely. "I believe I know where Aayla Secura will go."

Jagged just stared at her for a moment, and then he started to fire his questions, "How do you know? Where will they go? And when should they arrive?"

Morrigan raised her hands, showing that she would answer him if he stopped for a moment. "I had a vision." That was bad. Very bad indeed. Force visions, in an 'amateur' like Morrigan were considered clear signs of very high potential, and the Emperor understandably didn't like those. "I have seen them on Trogan. I know the place as I was there several times myself with Master Konh. I don't know the exact time for either for their arrival or departure, but I feel that we must hurry."

Jagged had his head in his hands, his fingers rubbing his temple. They will of course follow this lead. The problem came from the simple fact that he wanted to leave Morrigan out of trouble. Her vision was the only help they got and the Emperor would see her removed one way or another should her abilities evolve further. With a sigh he switched his comlink on.

"Captain Berger, this is Commander Fel, do you copy?"

"Commander Fel, this is First Lieutenant Pietre, Captain Berger has retired to his quarter. What are your orders?" came the voice of the young officer from the comlink.

Jagged liked the young officer. He was maybe not a strategical or tactical genius, but his hard work and the simple fact that he made sure to do his best was enough for the Commander. "Order the fleet to Trogan. Send messages to the Tallon and the Fist to join us there."

"Commander?" Of course his orders confused the man. It wasn't an hour ago when he said in Pietre's presence that he had no idea where to start the search.

"I have come across information that indicates that Aayla Secura will head to Trogan." Jagged didn't say more. Pietre would most likely assume he got it from the I.C.I.S. or another agency of the Empire and Jagged had no intention to alter his assumptions.

"By your command, Commander."

Turning the comlink off, he sat down to his desk. Morrigan softly grasped his shoulder, squeezing it in gratitude. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. You could have just kept silent about it, but instead came to me with the information. I just hope that I made the right choice. Visions are hard to understand after all. Oh, and if anyone asks it was me who had the vision," the young commander stated as an afterthought. He would not get in near as much trouble.

Morrigan seemed a little taken back, then understanding dawned on her and a little smile formed on her lips. "You are quite the noble soul, aren't ya?" she asked.

"Well, I'm a Fel of the Royal House of Bastion," he replied with a grin. "I have no choice, but to be noble."

The woman just shook her head in amusement. "True enough," she stated, and then her face then turned more serious. "If this goes wrong... will you be alright?" Neither the Emperor, nor Lord Vader were too keen on failures. If they don't capture Secura Jagged could face very severe consequences.

"Who knows?" Fel said in all seriousness.

Trogan 16.10.28

"Greetings, Jedi. We are here to take you before the Emperor. Drop your weapons."

Harry couldn't help but snort at that. Seriously, what did he expect? That they just stop, drop their lightsabers and go with them? Not to mention how grandstanding it was. "Was there even one occasion when that worked?" he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow as he took a fighting stance.

At least they instantly responded, showing that their demand was a mere formality to be able to say that they tried to end it without violence even if Harry doubted anyone would care for it. Instead of responding the Royal Guard charged at them their dual vibroblades glinting dangerously while the inquisitors did the same with their lightstaff in hand.

That was when one of the patrons near the entrance tried to leave before it escalated further. The Stormtroopers near tried to stop him, but the man was too distraught and reached for his blaster only for the clones to shoot him. The bar instantly turned into one huge battlefield. On a planet like Trogan, particularly in a bar like the Whirlpool, everyone had a weapon on them. The tables were pushed over as the patrons took cover behind them as they took out the sometimes not so hidden blasters on them. Soon the Stormtroopers were unable to help Jagged's group, since they were under the heavy fire from the patrons. While the soldiers were much better equipped and trained, the patrons outnumbered them close to three to one, making it extremely difficult to them to control the situation.

The group led by Jagged paid no mind to what was happening between the patrons and their soldiers, no, they headed straight at the four Jedi. The Imperials knew immediately who the largest threat to them was: Shaak Ti. So the three best swordsmen among them namely Trent, Jagged and Kohn targeted her. Aayla, being the only Knight from the remaining group, was facing Gordin and Tono. Maris was a Padawan and as such had only one opponent in the form of Morrigan. Harry being deemed the least dangerous was left with Cassius.

Cassius had the least talent or skill among the group at straight fighting. The smallish man was happy that he wasn't among those who had to fight Ti or Secura. While neither of them was among the best swords masters in the Order, both had a reputation as very dangerous opponents. He never seen the face of the man in front of him, which most likely meant that he was either an unimportant knight or an even less important Padawan, both options he was perfectly fine with. It wasn't like he couldn't brag about capturing two of the most wanted Jedi alive, just because he was fighting their Padawan.

Harry regarded his enemy, grimacing at what he had seen. He was a short, rounded man with a sadistic grin and small eyes. His aggressive stance proved true as he immediately started to attack him. The first stab was parried with his lightsaber. Then he twisted out of the way of the next blow followed by his own attack which had his opponent staggering back.

Cassius' face changed from his arrogant sneer to one of confusion at his first attack being blocked, then to panic as he realized that his opponent was quite talented with lightsabers.

Not one to miss such a chance Harry pressed his advantage, raining blow after blow upon Cassius, who panicked knowing his enemy was not only on par with him, but easily above. Harry turned away from his panicked and thus easily seen counterattack and elbowed him in the face. When he followed with a horizontal slash Cassius made his biggest mistake: he instinctively put his staff above his head diagonally. Harry's blade sliced through the grip of the lightstaff. Cassius could only open his mouth to say something, but Harry stabbed him in the chest before anything could pass his lips.

Harry didn't waste time looking at the corpse of the man. Seeing the others, he quickly decided to help Shaak. Maris and Aayla seemed perfectly able to fight their enemies, but three opponents proved too much even for the Jedi Master. With a simple hand motion he sent a Reducto at one of the red armor wielding man. The spell hit the man on his right side, blasting him over a pair of tables and into two patrons.

Jagged was caught by surprise at the attack from the man, but quickly got his emotions under control. Getting up he killed the two men he crashed into with two simple thrusts of his vibroblade. A quick check on his armor caused his face to turn into a grimace. The pain from his side was telling, but seeing his red battle armor, of the highest quality in the Galaxy, was badly scorched. Looking up at the man approaching him he barely had time to roll to the side seeing his opponent making a motion with his hand.

With a sudden surge of strength he leaped at Harry. The man stepped back and let loose of a string of fire from his hand. The surprised Royal Guard evaded it just in time but the fire nipped his left arm. The burning sensation was lessened due to the armor, but Jagged still could feel it. Blow came after blow, parry followed parry. It was an endless circle.

Jagged was much more skilled than Harry, but thanks to the wizard's reflexes and magic they were at a stalemate. If the young commander started to press him, the emerald eyed human answered with something unexpected. Fel would be thrown across the room, or he would have metal balls the size of his head after him, or the human would launch fire from his palm.

On the other side of the room Shaak looked at her opponents. She could hardly believe who the older man attacking her was. Neil Kohn was once a member of the Service Corps assigned to the Educational Corps. That happened nearly forty years ago and he became one of the most respected members of that branch of the Corps. She was never particularly close to him, but on the few occasion when she did speak to him, she found the man to have as much wisdom and knowledge as any master. Yet, it seemed that Darth Sidious was able to turn him against the Jedi.

When she had three opponents, Shaak was in no position to demand an answer from the man, unless she wanted to die as soon as she started to speak. In all honesty she could hardly keep up with them and silently hoped for one of her friends to finish their battle to help her. Only a minute later Harry took care of his own opponent and did just that engaging the young man in red armor.

Using the moment of calm Harry's distraction caused, Shaak quickly asked Kohn the question she wanted since she saw him. "Kohn, why are you doing this?"

The man looked at Shaak with something akin to regret, but his face quickly became a carefully controlled mask. "The Jedi Order lied to us, used us for their own gain. Why should I not turn against them?"

"That isn't true and you know it," Shaak replied calmly as she eyed the two men who slowly started to encircle her.

"No? I think you are blind if you didn't notice the disdain some Masters..." Kohn's own disdain could be easily heard in the way he said 'master', "...looked on us."

"Maybe some did not appreciate you as much as they should," Shaak allowed softly, "but all of you were Jedi, even masters and knights were part of the Corps."

"And they always made it felt how useless we were compared to them," Kohn replied as he took a swing with his lightstaff at the Jedi's head.

"I doubt that even you believe what you just said," the Jedi Master stated as she took a step back, bringing her lightsaber to the right, dodging Kohn's attack, "And even if it is true, do you think we deserve death for it? Did the younglings deserve it?" there was sorrow in her voice at what she viewed as a betrayal.

Kohn stopped for a minute, trying to find the words to respond. His partner, Trent Kort however had enough of the idle talk and attacked Shaak as soon as she turned her back fully towards him to speak with Kohn.

The Togruta Master however intercepted his attack, while sending Kohn back with a Force Push. With a graceful flick of her wrist she turned her blade to the opposite side of Kort's vibroblade and the next move had his left hand severed before he knew what happened. He let out a brief scream as with the next move Shaak decapitated him.

The sudden and sharp sound made everyone look at them for a second. Deciding to regroup near Shaak every one of them ran to her side. Maris was coming from the other side of the room, while Aayla jumped down from the first floor of the restaurant. Fel came to a stop beside Master Kohn, with Gordin and Morrigan coming from the first floor and the bar respectively.

"It seems that we evened the odds. What do you say we stop it now?" Harry asked in a cordial tone. In all honestly he had no desire to fight.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, my young friend. We must do our duty," Kohn said softly now that he had calmed down after his discussion with Shaak Ti, looking resolutely at them.

"But before we take you into custody, I would like to know my opponent name," Jagged stated with a nod toward Harry. He was calm on the outside, but all eight of them knew that the Imperials failed. They lost three comrades, while none of their enemy got more than superficial wounds. The chance of them being able to subdue them was close to zero.

"Harry Potter. And yours?" the displaced young man said as he humored him with a little smile, knowing his name would help them with nothing, least knowing who he really was. Obviously they will try to dig up something about him only to find nothing at all.

"A strange name," Jagged said with an arched eyebrow. It sounded almost mundane, not befitting the man in front of him. Taking it aside to think later, he answered Harry's question, "My name is Jagged Fel."

"A strange name, indeed," Konh murmured, his keen eyes regarding the sorcerer carefully. "I would like to ask you one last time to surrender."

"Would I be right if I assume that you wouldn't let us depart peacefully?" Harry asked, getting tired of this charade. It was obvious to him that it was their training that prevented them from admitting defeat. That the Emperor could brainwash them so thoroughly was worrying. At least the woman with them looked uncertain, which was a good sign in his books. Fel shook his head.

"Yes." Of course, because why would you agree to cease a fight that you have little hope to win?

"I see." Harry deactivated his lightsaber.

"Harry?" Aayla turned to her friend in confusion. It only lasted a moment as she locked eyes with his. The man had a plan.

"Sorry, but I like my freedom," he said to the Imperials as he smacked his hand down to the ground. A pentagram appeared made out of Latin words. The next minute the floor twisted and rose into a half circle of wooden spikes ready to kill anything in front of them. The four Imperials were lucky as their long honed reflexes saved them, though Gordin was nearly pierced through his chest.

The group was able to escape the building thanks to the side door, the patrons still fighting the Stormtroopers and the chaos they caused. They were nearly at their speeder, two-three meter away, when Harry saw, just out of the corner of his eyes, a gargantuan of metal.

It was a mobile fortress, at least two dozen meter tall, full of weapon platforms and on ten wheels, larger than a tank. It also had one of its top blaster aimed right at them. The others stopped at his side, fear clearly written on their face. Not that Harry blamed them for it. Then the vehicle fired its main weapon. Harry only erected his shield just in time that the blast slammed into it. The explosion had all of them staggering back. They got their footing and looked for their speeders, however it became clear that they were destroyed by it.

"Don't fire!" shouted a voice, which Harry could identify as Fel's. It was good to know that they were needed alive.

"Grab onto me!" Harry shouted at Aayla as he reached out and grabbed Maris and Shaak on their shoulder. He breathed in deeply then Apparated them out of the war zone.

Jagged could only watch in fascination as their prey escaped through unknown means. The three Jedi grabbed onto their male friends and with a loud crack they disappeared. The young commander had never heard of such ability among the Force users, and he was sure that the Emperor will be interested in hearing about it. Sadly, it won't be enough for his failure to be forgotten. He could only hope that the Emperor understood that their group wasn't prepared to engage with three Jedi and their strange friend.

Speaking of him, one thing was sure; this Harry Potter was a very dangerous unknown element and as such had to be handled with extreme care. He thought he would never see that someone other than Yoda or the Emperor put up a shield strong enough to deflect a blast from the main gun of an A6 Juggernaut.

After a moment he couldn't help but gave sigh. The battle was over for them. In reality it was over minutes ago. The smugglers, raiders and other scums inside will be rounded up nicely, soon enough. The soldiers drafted not long ago and clone troopers especially had much better training. He turned one of the officers next to the Juggernaut. "Sergeant, I leave this to you. See to it that someone examine those spikes on the ground floor."

"Yes, sir."

With that the four remaining members of the Guard and the Inquisition headed to their shuttle, a Sentinel-class landing craft near to the hotel with four other close to it. With luck they will be able to intercept their target as they try to leave the planet.

Hangar 12, Dock 9 at the same time

Harry fell to his knees as he and the three Jedi appeared at the hangar. Side along Apparation was hard enough with just one person. Three was enough to exhaust him even with the distance being relatively small. Aayla helped him up and for now he needed to lean on her for support. The tiredness will fade faster compared to physical exhaustion, but at the moment it was little consolation for Harry as they made their way toward the cockpit.

"I wish I had some potions with me." Snape was right in at least one thing he had said to Harry: potion brewing was an art. Well, most magical discipline at their highest level could be called that in the hands of a master, but the sentiment was still true. You needed a certain level of inherent talent for it. Harry was good, but there was no time for him to experiment with the plants and other ingredients he could find on Felucia. Truth be told, he hadn't thought about it at all.

"What is that?" Shaak asked curiously as she started up the engine. Thankfully the former owner made sure that the ship could take off way faster than most. Considering his profession as a slaver it was a wise move. In a minute they were in the air, on outbound course. "Some kind of healing water?"

"Some of them, there are literally thousands of types. They're used for medicine, cosmetics and anything in between," the wizard replied, remembering some of the more bizarre ones he had seen over the years. "But, we can talk about it later."

"Yes, of course," the Jedi Master stated as she nodded along. This was hardly the time for small talk. That was when Aayla and Maris came from the cargo hold.

The Twi'lek looked at the pilot's screen in front of Shaak. "Everything's in order. When will we be ready to go into hyperspace?"

"In two minutes, if the navigation computer works as good as I heard it should. We should leave the gravitation field of the planet soon after," replied the Tortuga woman with a scowl as she remembered the slaver she liberated the ship from. She knew that violence wasn't the answer, but she couldn't deny how tempted she was to end him that day. Not that leaving him in the hands of his former 'cargo' was particularly merciful she admitted. She doubted he lived more than a standard hour after they left him there.

Shaak didn't like that kind of justice, if it could be called that and not simple revenge. But when the other options would be dragging him along with them or setting him free without any punishment she knew she will always choose it. Her thoughts came to a halt as the computer let out a chirp as the ship got through the stratosphere.

Maris quickly started to type the coordinates of a nearby system into the navigation computer. Entering actual space Shaak frowned at seeing the massive forms ahead of them. "We have a problem," she stated.

There were two Venator on both their port- and starboard side with three Acclamator assault frigates and some corvettes, gunboats and the likes escorting them. Shaak immediately corrected their course, heading to the gap in the formation, while shouting commands to the others. "Harry, Maris to the turrets! Aayla switch with me!"

The Yu-410 accelerated quickly as the Twi'lek got into the seat. Shaak sat in the seat of the copilot, looking for approaching enemy crafts to warm about Harry and Maris. She didn't need to wait for long as group of fast and agile ships were dispatched by the star destroyers.

"Fighters!" Shaak shouted into her earpiece, "ETA; one and half minute!"

Hearing it Harry and Maris powered up their turrets. They aimed at them even if they were still out of range. The problem was that while they had a high chance of getting the first two the others will be much more cautious after that.

They fired as soon as the screen on the turret turned green. Harry got two V-wings down just as Maris fired on the other group. The V-wings broke their formation and went into pairs. They circled the slower freighter, like some kind of birds of prey. The difference was that the prey shoots back blasting down half of the two squads before they finally gotten more cautious.

The problem was the Venator from the side which was getting closer. It didn't fire with turbolaser, but they will be in their tractor beam projectors' range soon enough. Aayla could feel her heart pounding in her chest as they got closer.

Then an entire fleet jumped into real space in front of them. Aayla jerked the ship out of the way of the Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser in front of. Five of their pursuers weren't fast enough and slammed into its shield exploding on impact. Aayla maneuvered between the large ships taking note of the outburst of battle behind them. She didn't know who their savior was, but from the marking on them she deduced a pirate fleet of some kind. Grasping the hyperdrive handle she waited as they got away the gravity well of Trogan. On the second they got out of it she pulled and the ship disappeared from the star system.

On board of the Hammer at the same time

Jagged could feel a headache coming as he arrived on the Hammer's bridge. He was angry, even if on the outside he didn't show much of it. His eyes narrowed a little, his hand was in a fist and his mouth was tightly shut.

Commodore Lorn, the commander of the fleet had gone against his orders. Maybe out of spite, maybe revenge, because he was on the Hammer and not on his ship as the commanding officer. They didn't like each other, to put it mildly and Fel found it reasonable to stay out of each other way. He left Captain Berger in command of the fleet until further notice. Of course Lorn, being a rank higher than Berger wasn't pleased by this.

So, being a higher ranked officer, he ordered the fleet into a new formation. Because of this the YU freighter could head to a hole in their blockade. Fortunately they had immediately started to close the gap in their formation. It seemed to work, even though they lost at least a squadron and half fighters for it. The Justicar, Lorn's personal ship, nearly had them in the reach of the tractor beams when a whole fleet jumped out of hyperspace right in front of them. The situation transformed from pursuing a little ship to battle with a fleet of pirates in mere seconds.

Their enemy had a surprisingly lot of capital ships: a Lucrehulk class, a Recusant-class destroyer, two Dreadnaught and two assault frigates and more than enough escort ship with them. He couldn't help but swear.

"Blast it! Frontal shields to the maximum! Deploy every fighter!" He looked at Lieutenant Pietre as his command was carried out. "What is ETA for the Fist and the Tallon to arrive?"

"Twenty-seven minutes, sir!"

The Hammer's turbolasers responded to the incoming fire, blasting one of the enemy's blockade runner's shields away. The next volley of plasma damaged it beyond any hope. For a second nothing happened then it disappeared in a ball of flame as the reactor detonated.

The Justicar meanwhile faced off against the Lucrehulk-class with the Firebird at his side. The three ship exchanged fire, but it was more or less a deadlock. Some of the enemy's escort started to maneuver so they could get behind the star-destroyers to attack them at their weakest point. Seeing that Jagged ordered three of their assault frigate to intercept them and help with the Lucrehulk.

Jagged braced himself as the Hammer passed the Recusant-class. Their turbolasers, point-defense laser cannons fired as the ship's alarm rang. Their shield was under heavy fire from the other ship of the line.

"Damage?" he asked after the first volley was done.

"Shield at ninety-two percent. Partial breach of the hull at the sixth and seventh levels. Isolation of the damaged parts started. Minimal damage to the hull from the seventh level to the top on the portside." answered one of the officers. "Orders, sir?"

"Have the Fury assist us. After we take down the destroyer, focus our power on the Lucrehulk. Until then the Justicar and Firebird must not attack it," the young commander ordered evenly. "The other ships engage their escorts. Have the alpha and beta squadrons defended their ships, and the other squads assist our assault frigates."

The two Venator had the Recusant on the defensive. Even one on one a Recusant could barely hold its own against a Venator, but against two it was only a matter of time before it's shield would yield. Their fighters flied around them pursuing each other. His tactics seemed sound: the enemy destroyer's shield started to fail.

"Sir, the Justicar's shield went down! Transmission from Commodore Lorn." said the communication officer.

"Patch through."

"Commander," came Lorn's dry voice. The officer was surprisingly calm even as his ship's shields started to drop. "I made a mistake."

"You didn't fall back like I ordered," Fel said, looking at the screen. "Go behind the Firebird. We will be there soon."

"I don't think we will make it."

"Try anyway," Jagged ordered, reaching his limit of patience. Lorn was always acting like he knew better than everyone else. The man seriously needed to learn his place in the command-chain.

The Justicar tried to break away from the Lucrehulk... unsuccessfully. There was a series of explosions on ship's side. The ship shook as the secondary explosions started. The Justicar changed it course and gone straight into the former heavy cargo freighter. The two ships were engulfed in a colossal sphere of plasma. The bridge of the Hammer was in total silence for a moment.

"That idiot!" Jagged snarled, seeing the fate of the Justicar. Frankly he wasn't going to shed tears over Lorn's death, but a Venator had nearly ten thousand soldiers aboard. Those men paid for Lorn's mistake.

"Sir?" Lieutenant Pietre asked, after the silence became too oppressive.

"Have the Firebird assist us and finish this!" Jagged ordered, but his voice was hollow even for himself.

The Reluctant finally gave up seeing the Lucrehulk destroyed and another Venator joining the two already beating them. Jagged ordered his fleet to cease the fire until further notice as soon as they started broadcasting surrender signal on all frequency.

On the screen in front of him the tactical battle map was replaced by the image of a lean, brown haired man with an eye patch with a scowl on his face. Captain Steffon Skaven's face was of a man who hated losing, but was forced to do so.

"We surrender," the man bit out.

"And we accept. Power down your shield and weapon," Jagged said ,without so much as a twitch on his face. Most victors would give a grin of superiority. While it wouldn't matter with a pirate it would if he was dealing with CIS planets' governors which they conquered. Jagged sentiment was that he should treat all prisoners more or less the same.

Now his only duty was to report his failure to catch the target, again.

Hyperspace 16.10.28

Harry powered down the laser turret he used. It was pretty easy to learn how to operate it, a bit too easy in his opinion, not that he was complaining or anything. He pinched his nose after taking his earpiece out. It was not the first time he was surprised just how similar the technology here was to Earth's and won't be the last he could tell.

That aside, they had a far more serious problem. He left the battle station to go to the cockpit. As he turned on the corridor directly leading them he came across Maris. They couldn't even say anything when the two other Jedi appeared coming from the cockpit.

"Good aim, both of you," came the compliment from Aayla.

"Thanks!" Maris chirped back. The Zabrak girl seemed very pleased with herself.

"Something bothering you, Harry?" Shaak asked, noticing that the man's thoughts were elsewhere.

"Yeah, how could those... whoever they were, find us? If it was just the clones and other soldiers I could understand it. But those were agents, specially trained to take on us." He rubbed his hand through his hair in frustration. There was so much he did not understand of this new world he was in.

"You're right," Aayla stated as she frowned as well. "Maybe someone or something gave away our presence on the planet?"

"If you suspect Jool, I have to disagree with you," Shaak defended her old friend. "The timing was off and there wasn't enough time for our attackers to arrive unless they were in the area to begin with. Not to mention that on our second visit we received a gift from her." With that she slid a data card out of her robe. Aayla just shrugged in response.

"So, that leaves a homing beacon," Maris concluded.

"Or maybe they got lucky," Harry suggested, before sending an apologetic smile at them. "I'm sorry, but I want to go sleep a little. If you need anything I will be in our room."

"Don't worry about it. Sleep well," Aayla replied, waving him away.

When Harry woke up nearly twelve hours later the ship was quite calm. Aside of the soft humming of the hyperdrive nothing made any sounds. At the start of his search of the ship, he came across Aayla in the cockpit in the middle of a system check.

"Hi."

"Hi," she smiled back, lazily stretching out in the pilot chair. It amazed Harry how much Aayla didn't care of the effect her body had on those around her. Oh, she knew that she was gorgeous and could use it if needed, but on a personal level she just didn't care. It was true that to a certain extent neither did Shaak or Maris, leaving Harry quite uncomfortable in some cases. Luckily he was becoming rather adept at ignoring their tight bodies when needed. It was an achievement he was pretty proud of as it was not an easy feat by any means.

"So, what happened while I was asleep?" he asked, taking the seat behind her and starting to massage her shoulders. The Jedi girl let out a soft moan in pleasure as she closed her golden orbs. Harry was pretty good at it and it has been a while since the last time he pampered her like that.

"We've gone to one of the nearby star system empty of civilization. On the moon of the fourth planet we searched the ship both inside and outside. There was nothing, so we are pretty sure that they can't follow us," she said with a little yawn. It had taken close to ten hours to make absolutely sure they looked at every inch of the ship.

Harry frowned hearing that. It was good to know, but it didn't answer their question about how exactly did the Imperials find them? When he asked her, Aayla just shrugged.

"I have no idea. It was probably just a coincidence nothing more." But it was clear that Aayla wasn't any more satisfied with that answer than Harry himself. Harry mentally let out a sigh. It didn't really matter as of now. Aayla seemed pretty sure that they couldn't find them and that was enough for him.

"Where are Shaak and Maris?" he turned the conservation towards their companions.

"In the cargo hold, practicing," she contentedly murmured as Harry continued his gentle massage.

"Shall we go back to our cabin?" he asked, amused at her laziness.

"No, we will be at our destination shortly. The coordinates which Narsk gave," she explained.

"Oh."

Only a few minutes passed when the two other Jedi women joined them. Both smirked at Aayla who was too comfortable to do anything about them. But before they could really start any friendly banter, the console in front of Aayla signaled that they had arrived. The Jedi girl right away sat up and glanced at it.

"Thirty seconds... Twenty... Ten," Aayla counted down, "Three... two...one." She pulled at handle and the lustrous lines reformed as the stars as they exited the hyperspace.

The four looked around: they were in a deserted system very much like what they visited earlier for searching the ship for bugs. There was a star and seven planets, but their main concern was the two battleships in orbit above the sixth planet.

Harry couldn't help but look in awe at the Lucrehulk-class. At Trogan he had seen one of them but he didn't have the time to truly examine them there. He thought that the Venators were huge, a leviathan of war. But the Lucrehulks put even the star-destroyers to shame. It was three times longer than those after all and even if it wasn't that solid it was still impressive.

"Unidentified ship, signal the entry code. You have one minute to do so," came a droid's plain voice from the intercom. Receiving it in only thirty seconds did nothing to the droid. In the same tone as earlier it informed them that they received unlimited access to the two ships.

The group had a little argument which ship they should board first, the Lucrehulk or the Venator size Providence-class cruiser. Their debate was basically if they should just get the cruiser and leave behind the Lucrehulk or keep both. Finally they decided on the latter as there was really not any major argument against it.

"This ship has a big hangar," Harry remarked as the Traveler, as they named the YU-410, landed in the right side of the Lucrehulk ring. "But it doesn't look like it would make a great warship. A Starfighter carrier, maybe, but not a real ship of the line, faults in the design or...?"

"They were originally used as heavy freighters," Shaak explained as she got up from her chair. "One faction of the Confederacy, the Trade Federation, used them in large numbers prior the war and found it easier to refit them for battle." To be fair it wasn't just cost efficient, but they made mediocre warships and very good mobile deposit.

Their first trip was to the bridge which, fortunately were filled only with droids making it ridiculously easy to take command of it, and the other ship as well. As turned out the ship retained much of its original role as a mobile storehouse and barracks for the droid armies. One and half a million B1, half a million B2 and several thousands of different types of battle droids were in it. Someone could occupy an entire star system with it. Well, that would really depend on which star system one decided to try and conquer, but the fact was that they had a sizable force under their command.

First they had to go somewhere, because even if Harry tried to make sure that Narsk couldn't tell the ship's position to anyone, he never tried to Obliviate member of another race before. Neither could he tell just how strong willed Narsk was which could affect the charm's effect, though he was betting on weaker than average from what he felt when he was inside the alien's mind. Still, there was a chance that it was only partial or a short-term amnesia and the Bothan would soon tell the Imperials everything. Harry was reasonably certain that it wasn't the case, but they didn't want to risk being found by the Empire.

The group started looking through the ship's interior, starting with the living quarters. There were many of them, which was surprising given that even before the war most ships of the class were mainly operated by a droids with the minimal living crew overseeing their work. Narsk obviously favored the latter as there was space enough for well over ten thousand men according to the ship's computer. It seemed that the Bothan, being such a snobbish, lazy and hedonistic creature transformed the quarters of his officers and his into luxurious suits, usually seen only on the most expensive hotels in the world – or the palace of influential men. While none of them liked the extravagant and lavish lifestyle projected by it, they did enjoy at least some part of their new rooms. First and foremost, the personal bath replaced the shower of the Traveler.

After getting settled in their suites, Harry asked Shaak assistance in his lightsaber training upon coming across several gym and training facility. The smaller ones were square rooms of forty meter in length and twenty across. After getting into their training clothes, that being in Shaak case the tribal outfit of hers, consisting only a leather two pieces bikini with a few jewelry like the armband and anklet, and in Harry's a simple black combat trouser and shirt. The Togruta beauty decided that for now Harry would gain more from learning the basics of all the seven form giving him wider range of techniques and styles.

"I honestly do not know which form would suit you the best," she admitted to him, slightly uncomfortable. She was a member of the High Council and taught her fair share of Padawans. She felt that she should be able to help him out. "If I was to recommend one at our meeting on Felucia I would have gone with Djem So, but Aayla cautioned me saying you should experience all style before settling for one."

"Why would you suggest that one? Djem So, it's a variant of the Fifth Form, isn't it?" He asked. In their haste Harry only learned very, very little about lightsaber combat aside Shii-Cho from Aayla but tried to remember everything said about it. Aayla didn't teach him the other forms as Harry only started to learn the First Form and a firm grasp of the basics was needed for him to be able to advance.

"I see you did pay attention to what Aayla said," Shaak smirked at him, before shrugging. "Yes, it is one of the two variant of Form V, focusing more on actual lightsaber combat. Your physique suited it well enough. More often than not body shape and personality reflects our preferred style. There are of course exceptions, but nine times out of ten, we can tell at first glance which way the Padawan will go."

"Something similar happened on my planet." Harry nodded. Back on Earth a master dueler could tell his or her opponent's preferred style sometimes just by posture. "So, how will we start? Should we start with Form II and make our way up to the Seventh?"

"That should be the best," Shaak agreed after a moment of silence. "You will learn the basics of Makashi from me, until I decide that you are proficient enough. I didn't mean that you have to master this style Harry," she quickly added, seeing him opening his mouth to protest. "Even with your apparent talent it would take months before I would say you are halfway to be called a 'master'."

"Is there something wrong with being called a master swordsman?" Harry asked back confused at the tone Shaak used here. The Togruta Jedi pressed her lips together in distaste.

"I don't have anything against the title itself, but some think just because they earn that title they don't have anything to learn of the Form. I was named a master Makashi user more than a decade ago and still improve my skills." She paused for a moment, and then added, "My apologies, Harry, it doesn't matter. You are here to learn the basics." She quickly slid into the stance and started her explanation of the style to Harry.

"I am sure that Aayla already told you, but I say it again: footwork is essential in all lightsaber combat. With Makashi it is even more important than other forms." She started to move and for the first time Harry truly looked at how she did it. She was dancing with such grace and flow that it transfixed Harry for a moment. After she finished with a spin she activated her lightsaber.

"What truly set Makashi apart of other forms is the heavy emphasis it places on wrist movement and hand to eye coordination. Watch carefully my wrist," the Jedi Master continued her instructions.

And dance continued, but this time with the lightsaber twirling around her. Harry at first wasn't concerned about it. Wand movements required pretty good wrist movements after all and as the youngest Seeker in the century he had great hand to eye coordination. So it wasn't entirely unreasonable of him to think he couldn't have any trouble in that department, but seeing what Shaak could do with a fickle of her wrist made him reconsider it.

What followed was a very slow paced learning stage which, if Harry would still be his younger self, would have drove him into a screaming fit. Just as Aayla did with Shii-Cho, Shaak had Harry repeat the various katas of Makashi until he could do them near perfectly.

After two hours of training the moves they switched to sparring. The fact that her style made her literally dancing in that outfit made very hard for Harry to concentrate on what he was supposed to learn. Though to be perfectly fair it wasn't more than what could be seen on a beach it still caught his interest.

The woman was a bit too enthusiastic in her freedom that the ship provided with only the four of them on it. For most part Jedi who came from such ancestors as Shaak or Aayla had a very different view on what decency meant compared to most humans. They restrained themselves, since they were the members of the Jedi Order they had to be asexual beings, or as Shaak revealed they had to appear as such.

Even after he overcame the fact that Shaak simply didn't care what outfit she was seen by him, Harry still struggled with learning Makashi. After training hours upon hours he still didn't feel like he made great progress, but Shaak disagreed with him when he said so to her after exiting the gym.

"Aayla was right; you have a natural talent for lightsaber combat and a drive to accomplish what simple natural talent cannot get you. If this is the speed with which you learn then after a week it will be Maris' turn to train you in Soresu," she praised.

"Thanks, Shaak." He smiled tiredly at her, knowing that she wouldn't lie to him just to make him feel better. She also had a different teaching style compared to Aayla. Shaak was much more serene compared to the Twi'lek girl, but he supposed it come with their age difference.

Stepping into their room Harry came across the meditating form of Aayla. She slowly opened her eyes as she felt him entering their room. Looking at him with a raised eyebrow she asked him, "How did it go?"

"Shaak said I did well, but I sure as hell don't think so," he answered absentmindedly. Both did say it took years to master a style and even with his crash course it will take time for him to reach the level he wanted to be on.

"Shaak knows better," Aayla grinned at Harry, who shrugged in response as he walked next to her.

"I suppose you are right." He noticed Aayla falling in odd silence. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, just thinking about the future," her reply was soft, almost a whisper. Harry drew her into his arms, hugging her tightly. She looked at him with a small smile at his silent support. "You always know when to not say something..." She giggled before locking her arms behind his neck and bringing him into a soft and loving kiss.

For a moment Harry didn't move, but just as Aayla tried to break the kiss he pulled her back. Before she knew what happened the man was kissing her back passionately. Aayla never once felt so right anywhere before. Not in the Jedi Temple not on Ryloth. Wherever she was she could only find inner peace for a little time. Now, in Harry's arms she felt at peace, knowing she would always run into his arms never desiring to leave his embrace.

It was Harry who broke their kiss off. He looked at Aayla gently as he softly spoke, "I'm sorry, Aayla."

"Why?" she asked, puzzled at the sudden apology. "You didn't do anything. Or do you regret kissing me?" Her voice wavered at the end with vulnerability.

"Of course not!" Harry replied quickly, "but I don't want to complicate it more for you."

"Harry, when I said I mediated at the future..." A small smile formed on Aayla's face. "...I meant that I realized that I want to try this between us." With that she leaned forward to kiss the surprised man again. After a moment Harry happily wrapped his arms around her waist.

Onboard the Hammer, 16.10.29

"... We are repairing what we can after which we will have to go to one of the major shipyards." Jagged finished his report. He was at the conference room of the star-destroyer. After the battle he immediately contracted Coruscant. He couldn't help but pray to the Force for the Emperor to be in good mood.

"I see," the Emperor said his voice void of any emotion. He seemed to ponder on something, most likely this unknown ally the Jedi had. Jagged hold his breath as the ruler of the galaxy reflected on what he was told. "So how much threat this Harry Potter could be to me?"

"His raw power could rival Lord Vader's, but his lightsaber skills aren't even on the level of a Jedi knight," Jagged responded dutifully. "But with excessive training in lightsaber combat he could be a real threat. And both Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura are known to be rather formidable lightsaber combatants."

"But for now he isn't a direct threat," the older man concluded.

"No, my lord." He truly wasn't and with how things looked it would take several years before Potter could have any hope of being more than a minor inconvenience.

"I see. Then we hold off the search for him. We don't have the resources to chase him through the entire Galaxy when there still much work to be done!" He stopped for a moment before continuing on an entirely different topic. "You will go to Celanon, to where the fleet of Admiral Fel is assigned. After you arrive he will have enough force in his hand to break the Separatist hold on Serenno. With the falling of that planet we will truly control the Hydian Way," the Emperor said and like an afterthought added, "and your inquisitor allies will accompany you to interrogate the leaders of Serenno.

"I understand, my Lord."

The Emperor favored him with a smile, both encouraging and warning him. He couldn't fail again, at least not for the near future. He couldn't help but feel a little annoyance at that. This Harry Potter was much more powerful than what they prepared him and his team for. Not even the Emperor seemed to suspect anything, which was unusual. The Emperor was the most powerful Force user in the entire Galaxy and Jagged found it strange that his majesty's meditations didn't reveal anything.

Jagged himself doubted the possibility that a man with such raw potential in the Force could remain outside of the Jedi Order's or the Emperor's sight at all until now. The man seemed around his mid-twenties early thirties. Where was he in the previous years? Even now all of his searching and that of Master Kohn's revealed nothing: no bank accounts, no known IDs, no birth verification. As in absolutely nothing. It was like he didn't exist before Felucia... or someone wanted to have the government believe that. Jagged had a half working theory that Potter was an agent of a secret organization, maybe a splinter group of the Jedi from before the Ruusan Reformation. That led to the question why did they send him there and why that time?

Knowing how futile it was to think on the case of Potter, his thoughts drifted to his next commanding officer as he sat back to the chair at the head of the table. Admiral Soontir Fel, his father and the brother of the head of the Royal house of Bastion. Jagged grimaced, Soontir could hardly be called his father, at least aside of the biological meaning of the word.

It was not like Jagged had a difficult childhood, being member of the main line of a fairly wealthy noble house. His father just never was at home and if he was it was mostly spent in his study, the royal palace or at the barracks. He was never abusive, didn't drink that much —at least in front of his children — only a glass of wine at dinner or a little whiskey. They just didn't form the bond like a normal father and son should.

In all honestly their relationship was more along the lines of an officer and a soldier, a favored soldier but a soldier nonetheless. He taught him how to defend himself and his family both on the battlefield and in the halls of politics – or rather had someone else teach him. Jagged had known that Soontir was capable to express fatherly emotions: with her sister, Ariel he effortlessly built a father-daughter bond. Jagged mother, Aeris Fel nee Palpatine was much warmer to her children. Her death seemed to take any affection Soontir had for his son away and focus it solely on his daughter.

The Admiral was a great officer, being one of the best strategists in the Empire, far better than a father. He was uncompromising but fair. He had the uncanny ability to tell where his man's limits were, both physical and mental. He pushed them to it, sometimes even broadening it. And disturbingly he could very accurately tell where his enemies' own such limits were.

Their objective will be though too, Serenno was an impenetrable fortress, since the early days of the war. If they were to even hope to break its defense they will need at least an armada. There were at least five space defense platforms and two dozens of capital ship with full escort lines according to the latest intelligence data. It won't be an easy battle by any means.

"Jagged?" came the voice from behind him. Turning around he come face to face with Morrigan. He greeted her with a small wave and a welcoming smile.

"I heard about our next mission. Admiral Fel... he is your father, isn't he?" she asked sitting next to him.

"Aye."

"What kind of person is he?" she asked, curious at one of the greatest officer in the Empire.

Jagged had to think for moment about how to answer that question. "He is... well, I would say he is a good commander, if that's what you are asking. A stern but fair commander," his voice was neutral, nearly careless. He said the truth, only not the entire truth.

"And as a father?" It didn't escape Morrigan's attention that Jagged only spoke of his father as an officer, nor the careless tone he did so.

"That's one thing I would like to know as well," he said with a humorless smirk. When Morrigan looked at him with a raised eyebrow he decided to elaborate. "Average, I think. I had nearly anything I wanted; great teachers, whatever I would like; little trinkets, new star yacht, speeder... you get the idea, I could have it. But... I don't know him, not any more than any other officer in his fleet. He was... is much better with my sister, Ariel," he added hastily. He had to give credit to his father for that, he was an example of the caring father when it came to his daughter. A bit uncomfortable with the topic he tried to change the topic from him to Morrigan. "What about you? Can you tell me anything about your family?"

"Nothing. They died when I was little," she answered.

"Sorry. I didn't want to bring up bad memories," he sincerely apologized.

"Think nothing of it. I hardly remember them anymore," she said with a shrug. "Master Plo Koon found me when I was six years old and I was brought to the Temple at Coruscant. When it was time for me to become Padawan I was found too independent and asked too much question."

"So they sent you into the Service Corps," Jagged finished for her. He heard tales of that a large percentage of the Inquisition's force was made up from the former Corps. Trent often made comments about it and no one could say anything with certainty. The Inquisitors files were classified for anyone bar the Emperor, Lord Vader, multi-sector governors and higher ranking Inquisitors.

"Yeah, I wasn't the worst of the initiates. I have seen Aurra Sing... and she made Padawan of An'ya Kuro, the Dark Woman!" she said with bitterness. "I was nowhere near as much of a trouble as she... "

"Do you resent them for what they had done?" Jagged asked. He could fully understand that, the Jedi Order seemed to have a very strange custom when it came to decide who should be a Padawan and who shouldn't.

"No," she answered and she herself was honestly surprised to feel that it was true. "Not anymore. They did what they were ordered to do by their precious Code. I thought it unfair that when they played favouritism it wasn't me, but... Life isn't fair and I still had much better life than trillions of beings in the Galaxy. And if I wanted I could have family without some special license."

"I think I know what you are talking about," Jagged nodded along. "Thank you, for sharing this with me. I know that you shouldn't do this."

"After you lied about the vision being yours and not mine, it's the least I can do." She replied with a shrug.

Neither of them noticed the person in the shadow outside the room. Watching them intently, hearing every single word being spoken. An hour later, when they decide to retire to their quarters, there was no trace of anyone being nearby.


	6. 6 What the heart wants

****All five chapters were edited by Fairywm. She has done an amazing job in little more than a month (With me writing the fifth chapter included in it!) She was very patient and understanding with me, which couldn't be the easiest. I want to thank her for all of it and I hope she will help me finish this fanfic.****

 ** **THANK YOU FAIRYWM!****

* * *

 ** **Responds to reviews: Thank you all,****

 ** **Ultor: Thank you. Harry will learn how to be a pilot, yes. For blasters: the only reason he would need one is subtetly every other reason is covered by spells which are way more useful.****

 **HaywireEagle: It seems you disabled the PM system, which is a shame as I had a feeling we could have had a very interesting conservation.**

 **For your reviews:**

 **1\. You could be a bit more specific about 'painful deus ex machina'. If you mean the time-turner that was explained even if not entirely.**

 **2\. Yes, you are right. Paper currency is unknown in the Star Wars universe. Though, to be truthful I find that one at least a bit unrealistic. I mean the Star Wars is clearly more of a fantasy in Sci-Fi settings than a pure Sci-Fi. That being said, I find it so small detail that I don't have a problem with it.**

 **3\. Again true. That was what Morrigan said was the reason she wasn't accepted as a padawan. Don't forget that she is very young and resentful towards the Jedi.**

 **The only question is does she realy knows that? Or is it something the Jedi didn't specify? She has great potencial as you have seen. Surely the Jedi wouldn't just send her to the Corps when (as she said) even Aurra Sing got a chance?**

* * *

 ** **Chapter V****

 _What the heart wants..._

 **Deep-space. 16.10.28**

There was a soft hissing sound as the door of the bathroom slide open. Shaak Ti and Maris, both already in the pool at the middle of the room, turned towards the entrance seeing only Aayla as she dropped her towel on the bench next to it. The Twi'lek girl slowly looked around.

The room was pretty large, which was less than surprising considering it was meant to be used by groups, most likely VIPs and Narsk himself. It was dominated by a large pool in the middle, easily enough for two dozen average humanoid, which was connected to two smaller ones on both side. Besides the plain white floor and walls, everything else was high-end.

"Aayla! I thought that you wouldn't come!" Maris exclaimed as she bounced in place.

"Aye. I started to think that you choose Harry's company instead of ours," Shaak took up after the Padawan with a smirk.

"I'll have enough time to enjoy Harry's company at a later date," she replied with a soft smile, thinking about their moment, "and I wanted to speak with you two."

"Really?" Maris asked wide-eyed at being included that. She was young and doubted the chance of saying something helpful to either of the two other Jedi. "I mean, I can understand Master Ti, but why me?" she asked, with a soft confused smile.

"First, it is Shaak, Maris," the older woman reminded her gently. Both girls needed time to get used of addressing her by her first name and not her title. "Secondly, we, both Aayla and I, as well as Harry, value your opinion very highly," she stated as she watch Aayla walk to the edge of the pool.

"It's true. I'd like to hear your thoughts as well on my dilemma," the blue-skinned woman said as she slowly slipped into the pool, letting out a low groan as the hot water engulfed her body. "But, I think we can talk about it later," she waved them away as she let the water relax her.

"If that is what you want," the Jedi Master stated as she gave her a playful smile. The other two Jedi nodded amicably, looking on amusedly as the Twi'lek girl luxuriated in the feeling.

"How is Harry's training going? He says he can't see much improvement, but also that you, Shaak, found it good enough," Aayla stated, after a few minutes, as she rose to a sitting position and settled herself next to the Jedi Master.

"Hmm yes, I can see why he would think that. I had to remind him myself that this was the very basics of his training and he made a very good progress in just one day. I hope that you reminded him about me being wiser in this matter?" Shaak said in a questioning tone with an elegantly raised eyebrow. She had seen several Padawans, both of her own and others', being too hard on themselves, but was a bit surprised that Harry would be the same.

"Yes, he understands it as well, but you have to admit it isn't easy for him," Aayla looked up to the ceiling, thinking about Harry. "He said he knows that he'll improve soon and not to worry about it," she stated as she looked over to the Togruta woman. "He will, won't he?" she asked a worried note in her voice.

"His wrist flexibility is up to what I would need to advance his training, but his footwork is a bit off. We will need to work on it, mainly the side movements," the Jedi Master replied, impressed by what she seen today from the wizard. "But, yes, he will soon improve greatly. In fact, I doubt I will need more than a few weeks to teach him all the basics of Makashi," she looked over the Zabrak girl, who meanwhile had taken dive into the pool, and now broke the surface again. "Then Maris can start on Soresu."

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Maris looked at the two at hearing her name, before nodding distractedly at them. "I'm a bit unsure about it, Master. I never taught anyone lightsaber combat before."

"You don't need to worry about it," Shaak soothed her gently. "You are better than either of us at Form III, it will be easy for you to teach it to him."

"If you want, we can be at your side tomorrow, though I don't think you would need us," Aayla offered, causing Maris to send a grateful smile at them.

"Since we are talking about Harry... What's happening between the two of you?" Shaak asked the Twi'lek. "I could feel your happiness a little while ago."

"Did you two...?"

"No!" Aayla replied hastily. "I didn't... we... I wanted to ask you about this." She took a deep breath before starting again, "We decided to try this, to see where it goes."

"So you two are...?" Maris looked excitedly over her.

"Together, yes," Aayla confirmed with a small smile, while Maris let out a little squeal as she hugged the Jedi Knight. Shaak squeezed her shoulder in support.

"I'm happy for you," the Togruta Master gently smiled at the younger woman. "I know Harry will treat you right."

"Thank you," Aayla stated as she looked at her two companions with a grateful smile, before adding a bit fearful, "I just hope it will be alright."

"Why wouldn't it?" Maris asked, surprised at the notion. "You two like each other? I mean love."

"We didn't discuss what is exactly between us," Aayla said as she frowned a little at that. She had no clear plan and had a feeling that Harry didn't had one either. "I know that we care deeply for the other, but I don't know if it's love..."

"It isn't," Shaak interrupted her as if simply stating a fact. When the two other looked at her she shrugged, "I may be inexperienced in the actual relationship part of such bond, but I know this; real, deep love requires time. What you feel for him is love, but not the love which will continue until you die."

"I don't understand," Aayla admitted after a little thinking on it. "First you say it isn't love, and then next you say it is love. Now, which is it?"

"Oh, my dear!" Shaak looked at her, a bit shocked at the Twi'lek's dilemma. "You want a simple answer to such complicated matters. I am sorry, Aayla, but if there is one I certainly do not know of it."

"So you don't have an answer?" prompted Aayla at the older woman, who shook her head while holding her hand up to calm the confused younger woman down.

"I do not have a simple answer," corrected the Togruta. "It would be a very complicated matter even under normal circumstances, and let alone what we are in. I think you have a bit of crush on Harry, a great deal of trust in him and he is very attractive on top of it. Under all of that there is a seed of love, which could grow into a beautiful relationship, if you allow it."

"What should I do?" Aayla asked, looking at older woman pleading for help. But the Jedi Master shook her head in response.

"I cannot tell you what to do Aayla. Only you can give that answer to yourself. I can only advice you to meditate on the matter and whatever you see as the best for you stay with that choice. You will question it, more than once I imagine, but the easy questions aren't the important ones," Shaak said quietly shaking her head.

"I see," Aayla stated softly, looking at the water. "But shouldn't you be more concerned about that? I mean the Code..."

"The Code does not prohibit bonds of such nature," the older Jedi cut her off, dismissing her concerns altogether. "Officially we don't allow it, but as long as a Jedi can put his duty before his personal feeling the Council will turn its head to the other way. Or in special cases, we officially acknowledge the union, like with Master Ki-Adi Mundi. In all honestly in that case feelings did not even came into question..."

"What do you mean, mas... Shaak?" Maris asked, paying special attention saying Shaak name instead her title, for which the woman favored her with a smile.

"It is because he did not have much contact with his children and even less with his wives. After all it was only another duty to him, just this time toward his species. The entire process of conceiving was artificial as well," she explained plainly.

"Then why did he even marry them?" the teen asked curiously. After all if you have little to no contact and bond with your family, why the ceremony? It didn't make much sense to her.

"There is a very deep social pressure on Cerea to wed whoever was the mother of your children. A child out of wedlock would be looked down just as the mother. Let's just say, that this was easier to all party concerned in that affair," Shaak replied. She felt that both that social stigma and Master Ki-Adi's effort of avoiding emotional attachment to his family after being forced into that situation was a bit foolish, but could understand both.

"Then why were mine and Kit's…" Aayla said, fading off the unspoken question, shocked at hearing the tale.

Shaak winced a little at that. It was a matter heavily debate on by most of the Council in those few weeks. "It may sound a bit unfair, but... both you and Master Vos nearly fallen to the Darkside. Most of the Council felt that it is the best if we don't risk two of our most promising Jedi as Master Fisto would undoubtedly follow you."

"I see," the Jedi Knight said, hurt at the lack of faith in her shown by the Council. She may argue with them, but she respected each and every member. It was hard knowing that they didn't felt her able to escape the temptation of the Dark Side.

"We cannot change the past, Aayla. I know it is hard, but you should try to look to the future," Shaak advised her. It will be hard the Jedi Master knew, but Aayla shouldn't think about what if's, when she just started a relationship with Harry.

"I know that!" Aayla yelled out angrily. "Sorry, Shaak!" she immediately apologized, immensely embarrassed by her loss of temper. "I don't know what came over me..."

"It is alright. I understand it completely," the older woman waved it away, knowing Aayla well enough to know her anger will disappear soon. "We can speak of it later if you would like," she offered, to which the Twi'lek girl nodded along.

None of them said anything for a while, all of them thinking about what they heard. It was a lot to take in, especially for Aayla. It was one thing to know that the Council was against her and Kit. She wasn't upset about it, her feelings for Kit changed considerably. But what did it mean for her and Harry? Maybe Shaak said that the Order fell apart, but when enough Jedi gather together there will be a new High Council. What will they say about their relationship, when even she didn't know exactly what it was?

"What should we do now?" Maris broke the silence with a timid voice. Shaak and Aayla looked over the Zabrak teenager. "I mean as a group... what shall we do now that we know that the Empire hunts us?"

"First, we try to rescue or help the other Jedi, who survived Order 66, after that we shall see," Aayla replied, quickly setting her internal debate to the sideline.

Maris looked over Shaak and asked, "What about those who fled the Temple?"

"I know where they are," the Jedi Master replied with her eyes closed, "but will not endanger them by going there until I know for absolutely certain how the Empire found us."

The two younger Jedi looked at each other, nodding along. Neither of them wanted anything to happen their brothers and sisters. Most likely they will know if the Empire can trace them by some means sooner rather than later. Though they doubted that the Imperials managed to place a tracking device on their ship and they hadn't found any during their search for one.

"Maybe we can find others, like General Bel Iblis or Master Kota and join them," Maris suggested unsurely.

"Maybe. But you heard Jool, Master Kota disappeared, and the General has not been seen since Order 66 either. Even if we do make contact with them, we cannot become mere soldiers under the General," Shaak cautioned her softly. She had no problem with Bel Iblis, but the Jedi couldn't make the same mistake again.

"But we can be allies, can't we? We have a heavy cruiser and a Lucrehulk at our disposal," the teen argued, knowing that two capital ships would be tremendous help for the former Corellian senator.

"True enough, but we will need a crew. Those droids... and I admit that their presence makes me a bit uncomfortable, they are a poor replacement of flesh and blood crew," Aayla said slowly. True, they now had complete control over the droids, but the Jedi still fought them for years. Something like that won't be forgotten in a night.

"True enough," Shaak agreed with her, but also had to point out a few problems with that thought. "But, if we want to fit them, we will need thousands of man and woman. And we will need to be sure of their loyalty."

"Maybe Harry could help with that," Maris said, uncertainty coloring her voice. "He can read minds after all." Making the other two females to frown at the reminder of what happened at Trogan.

"Maybe, but I would like to speak about using that power on that Twi'lek first. What I saw on Trogan, I will be honest, it disturbed me greatly how easily he decided to enter someone's mind," Shaak said. For the Jedi the mind of any member of a sentient species, and to a lower extent the non-sentient ones as well, was sacred. It was only in very dire need when a Jedi would try to read, let alone influence it. It was considered one of the greatest sins, it being done to an innocent bystander without permission.

"True. I know he isn't that ruthless normally. I wonder what happened at Trogan," Aayla said a frown still marring her face at the thought.

"Perhaps we should hear what he has to say on it," Maris suggested before the two older women made any rash decision.

"Yes, it would be very unwise to reach conclusion without his opinion on that matter," Shaak said, while Aayla only inclined her head in concert. Jedi must be open-minded after all. That didn't mean they agreed their partner's method, regardless his motives.

"Harry's making dinner at the kitchen attached to our suite. If you want we can dine together and ask his thoughts on his usage of such powers," Aayla offered on a whim. She would rather have that dinner with only Harry, speaking what happened between them before she come to the bath. Well, after Maris and Shaak will turn in for tonight she can speak with him.

"We would be delighted," Shaak said, exchanging a look with the Zabrak Padawan.

The Jedi got out of the pool, slipped on some clothes and went to see if Harry was done with dinner. They chatted along the way about unimportant things and were soon and his and Aayla's suite. The three entered the room and heard something being placed on the table that smelled delicious.

Harry raised an eyebrow seeing that their companions joining them for supper. He looked over to Aayla, who silently nodded to him. He knew they had much to discuss. She never dated anyone and while Harry had a few relationships, he was no womanizer either. It seemed it will have to wait some other time though.

The dinner itself was a quiet affair, none of them really feeling that talkative. After cleaning up the remains of the food from the table, the four stayed seated with a drink in hands. Maris had a Lopez, a soft drink, while the other three had a cup of Gav, which was similar to one of the cocktails served in the Wizarding World, called Sea Juice with Water Rum as the base with a orange and pine-apple juice added to it .

"So, what's this all about?" Harry asked curiously, looking over at the three women. "Not that I don't enjoy your company, but I can feel your anxiousness." His sudden empathy, a product of his connection to the Force, was still quite weak. It wasn't readily available to him, but he was able tell their nervousness just by their body language.

"Harry, we wanted to speak to you about what happened at Trogan," Shaak began. She was the most calm out of the three.

"Which part?" Harry asked back frowning, not really knowing what they were talking about. "We spoke of the Imperials..."

"No, not of that," Aayla said as she shook her head, looking Harry in the eyes. "While it would be nice to know how they found us, we're more interested your ability of altering the mind."

"Specifically, why would you use it so... carelessly?" Shaak asked hesitantly. She didn't like calling him out on it, but couldn't let it rest either.

"Carelessly?" he asked back, clearly caught off guard with the question and the assumption of his eagerness to break into another's mind. "I didn't and wouldn't use such things without caution, I can assure you. I thought you'd know that."

The three Jedi flinched a bit at that. They were conflicted by the contradiction of what they knew of Harry and what happened in that hotel room.

"Yes, however, you did break into the mind of an innocent bystander without any hesitation," Maris replied softly, but adamant. Maris was like that: soft spoken, but unrelenting.

"First, we couldn't know if she was really only as a wh... an escort, and not an assassin or Narsk right-hand woman," Harry shot back, but before any of them could interrupt he held his hand up. "Secondly, I didn't break into her mind. There are various levels how deep you go inside one's mind. Besides, I'm pretty certain I could only see some of her surface thoughts and modify some of her recent memories nothing more. I'm nowhere near the level necessary for something more harmful," he admitted. He had no love for _Legilimency_ and never learned more than the basics. "While I admit that it wasn't something I wanted to do, but I would rather cause her a minor discomfort at worse than leaving such loose ends around where we go."

"So you are saying..." Aayla inquired slowly, trying to think over what he said quickly. Apparently Harry didn't violate the escort's mind, though he was close to the line being crossed.

"I didn't break into her mind, well, not as you think. However, I did alter how she remembered our arrival," the displaced wizard explained plainly, before adding, "I don't like using such tools, but at the time I felt it necessary for our survival."

"I... We are glad to hear that, but it is a bit unnerving to know that you possess this power," Shaak replied after a moment to gather her thoughts. "We, as Jedi, have something similar, but less focused power to influence others' mind. And we never use it either in such manner or so... willingly."

"It isn't that easy for me either, you can believe me. Not only in the ethical sense of the word, though that is still there," Harry said, omitting the fact that thanks to the Wizarding World's practice of using the _Memory Charm_ on the mundane to hide their world made him much more accepting for the use of it than them. He quickly continued on with other problems he had with it, while clasping his hand in front of him, "For starters other species' minds are too, excuse me for using this word, alien for me to really make sense of. How they think, how they feel about certain things and so on. It all makes it harder for me to 'see' into their mind. Even a Twi'lek's mind is very strange for me, let alone a Bothan's or other less humanoid races."

"What importance has the race's conformation in your ability?" Maris asked confused at hearing it.

"Their body type has little to nothing to do with it. It is the mental and emotional process that truly matters. And because most humanoid races tend to think similarly, it makes dealing with their mind easier," Aayla explained to her before Harry could reply. Seeing him nodding along from the corner of her eyes, while obviously being surprised she added to him, "The Jedi have similar problems, but as we don't delve too deep into the mind of others, it's far less than to you."

Shaak looked over him, her thoughts slowly becoming organized. Frankly she was fascinated by this ability. All Jedi aimed to understand other life forms, be they large or small. As far as she knew Harry was uniquely suited for a human to do it. Of course that depended on how his powers worked exactly. "Aside of that is there any other limitations on your power?"

"A lot more than you would think. I can't rewrite even a human's mind from the foundations for example," Harry replied, "Even for the best _Legilimens,_ which I'm certainly nowhere near, it would take months with a rather large chance that the other person will end up insane."

" _Legilimens_?" Shaak asked, curious at the new idiom.

"We call the branch of magic that allows influencing or even invading other minds _Legilimency_ and its user _Legilimens_. _Occlumency_ is the art of closing one's mind from such a thing."

"I see. So it's much harder than what we thought," Aayla said softly, referring his earlier mention of hindrances in using mind magic.

He nodded and they all relaxed. A comfortable silence descended on them. The Jedi girls were relieved that their worries and fears were more or less unfounded, while Harry was glad that the tension that was between them (discounting that little time with Aayla) evaporated.

"Harry, can I..." Maris started to say, but stopped herself from finishing it. She fidgeted in her seat, not sure if she should ask. The teen glance at Aayla with a thoughtful look.

"Yes, Maris? What is it?" Harry turned to the Zabrak girl.

"It's nothing. Forget I even said anything," the girl softly said, once more looking at the Twi'lek shyly.

"Maris..."

"I just want to sleep with you. Not like that!" she hastily added, seeing the look on Shaak and Aayla face. Harry himself was left with hanging jaw. "I just felt safe with you..." she murmured.

"I don't know, Maris..." he said, trailing off, not wanting to hurt her feelings. He was reluctant at escalating what he imagined as a onetime thing. Not that he was that adverse in sharing his bed with the beautiful, little Jedi girl.

"Please!" Maris pleaded with him, feeling that his resistance was halfhearted at best.

"Of course you can," Aayla agreed to the proposal with a little grin at Harry's disbelieving look. Maris happy smile as she hugged her, glad the woman wasn't angry at her request.

Shaak also giggled at the sight. "Well, if you two are sleeping with him, I suppose I can do that as well," she mused aloud as she walked out of the suite. "I will go get my stuff for the night."

"Wait for me, Shaak!" Maris cried out as she ran after the Togruta Jedi Master.

"Did that really happen?" Harry asked Aayla, who smirked at him.

"Yes, you will have three bedmates again."

"Not that I am complaining, but on Earth it would be extremely difficult to have three beautiful girls such as yourselves in my bed," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head.

"It isn't just Maris who feels safe with you, and you also make a great pillow!" Aayla added as an afterthought with a grin.

"Glad to be of assistance for you three," Harry replied with a wry smirk.

"Harry... can we talk about what happened... earlier?" Aayla asked, blushing a little at remembering their kiss.

Harry nodded a bit hesitant. "Yeah, we should," he agreed.

"Where does this leave us?" the Twi'lek girl asked.

"Well, I don't want to push you, but I do like you, Aayla, very much so," Harry said honestly, looking deep in her eyes. "I know your Order doesn't encourage bonds like that, but I'd like to give us a try."

"I... I think I feel the same way, but what will happen if this doesn't work out?" Aayla asked, worriedly biting her lower lip.

"Then we weren't good for each other, that's it," he shrugged with a sad smile. "But, if you are wondering about that, you should also ask yourself this; what if it does work out? What if we found someone within the other whom we would live our entire lifetime together?"

"It's a very large step," Aayla said softly.

"It is. You don't have to answer it now or even tomorrow, Aayla," Harry reassured her gently, taking her hands in his own and giving a small squeeze. "I'll wait for it until you feel you are ready for it."

"Harry," Aayla called out, raising from her chair and stepping closer to him.

"Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She was within arm's reach, nay, even their body slightly touched.

"You talk too much," with that Aayla kissed him, gently softly nibbling on his lips, which parted in surprise. His hands instinctively went to her hips, just as hers went to the nape of his neck. Not someone to waste such opportunity her tongue darted out, licking his lips. Getting back on track Harry's own tongue joined Aayla's in their dance. The Twi'lek girl moaned out as their tongues dueled for dominance. As earlier Aayla lost again, shuddering in pleasure as Harry a little roughly drew her to him with his hands still on her hips. Her moan started to grow both in frequency and sound as under Harry's touch a very pleasurable tingle engulfed her. She moaned one last time, before pushing herself a bit out of their embrace.

"As much as I want to continue where we left off... Shaak and Maris will be there any minute," she said with a little smirk, causing him to let out a small groan, before looking at her with a smirk.

"So, I assume that this was your answer."

"Was it not clear enough?" Aayla asked, amused at his words.

"Hmm, I may need some more to be certain of it," Harry teased her, stepping closer.

Aayla readily pressed her body up to his. When Harry bent to give her a kiss, she spun out of their embrace with a soft laugh. "Sorry, Harry, but that's all you will get for now!" she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "I would advise a cold shower before Shaak and Maris arrive to deal with your _big_ predicament."

Following Aayla's gaze Harry could only groan at what he had already known: his hard-on was clearly visible. Walking into the suite's bathroom, he could hear Aayla's giggling behind his back.

 **Deep-space 16.10.29**

The next morning found Harry in a situation which most people would kill to be in. Three scantily clad Jedi girls were in his bed, all of them snuggling into his sides, ok, Aayla laid on his chest, but the sentiment was still there.

The morning routine wasn't that disturbed by where they spent their night at all. Harry found it very odd that his three companions were clearly perfectly at ease with him. All three opted to wear as little as possible in the bed while remaining decent, Aayla and Shaak both delighted to wear thongs and bikini tops, while Maris went with a sport shorts and top, the latter barely covering half of her breasts.

Aayla and Maris decided to examine what they truly had in both ships after the morning meditation session. While the other day they had run through it, all of them knew that they should estimate their resources very carefully, since they had no supplies other than what they would decide to acquire with the Traveler. In theory they had an army big enough for them to raid smaller Imperial outposts, but despite being a very tempting option, they ruled it out for the time being. After a series of successes, they would have a fleet or two on their heels and they couldn't afford to lose what they gained.

Meanwhile, Harry resumed his training under Shaak after the Jedi's mediation. After a few hours of practice she declared him ready for some of the advanced katas, but reminded him that this was a crash-course. What really drove this point home, were their spars when Harry couldn't use his magic, which for one reason or another, Shaak started to refer it as 'Force Sorcery' and seemed a bit wary of it.

Without his magic and to no one's surprise, their practice duels were clearly in her favor. She was after all one of the most accomplished Makashi user in the Jedi Order. After several rounds of training, they stopped for a quick break, both getting distracted by the sweat soaked body of their sparring partner.

"So, you and Aayla are now... How do you say it? An item, yes?" Shaak asked, cocking her head to the side.

"We want to pursue a relationship, yes," Harry agreed, matching her little smile. "She's someone I can easily envision a happy future with. You'd be surprised how few women on my home planet could do that."

"Well, you are a very special man, Harry," she sent him a fond smile, which caused him to blush lightly. He was still bad with receiving compliments, though nowhere near how much he used to. "Maybe because you are from an entire different universe or it is entirely you, but I think you are both good for the other. But I warn you, even if I like you, I will not hesitate to have your hide if you hurt Aayla."

"Every relationship has its ups and downs, Shaak," he reminded her a bit defensively. "Believe me, I have bit more experience in that regard than you two. But," he said, raising an arm to stall Shaak's angry outburst, "I can promise that I won't hurt her, not deliberately anyway."

"I know you may have arguments," Shaak rolled her eyes at him. Honestly! The man thought she had no knowledge of relationships just because she lacked experience? A stupid assumption if she ever heard one.

"That's good," Harry replied softly. "If you respect the other it isn't that much a problem to argue. I didn't reassure you, did I?" he asked awkwardly, while he ran his hand through his raven tufts. What more could he say?

"In all honesty, if you had said that you will live without any problem, I would be much more concerned," Shaak replied with a faint smile. "Now, I can at least say that I can support your bond with all my heart and without regret."

"Shaak... I don't know what to say... A 'Thank you' doesn't seem enough," Harry said with a thankful smile.

To which the Togruta just laughed, while amusement danced in her eyes. "It is enough."

"Shaak, thank you."

For a few minutes they lapsed into a pleasant, soundless rest, both thinking about the bond between Harry and Aayla. For Harry it both excited and frightened him how much Aayla affected him both physically and emotionally. He knew that both of them were in need of very, very long and deep talk about the other and their bond, before they can reach a new level in their relationship emotionally. Which Harry wanted to have before they sate their carnal desires as much as he wanted to bed the beautiful Twi'lek girl? Which in itself was worrisome, since Harry never felt so close to losing control of himself with any woman but Aayla.

Shaak looked at him from the corner of her eyes, studying him. He was very handsome, but physical attractiveness wasn't a priority for her. Most Jedi only had a faint idea what she or he should consider appealing by today society's standard as they had no interest in gossips. This in her opinion was a very distorted, by the way.

Shaak herself had a bit firmer concept of what she would search in a life-mate, both physically and spiritually. Harry seemed a very good candidate from what little she could glimpse of him of the five days they spent together. But still, it was only five days! And that was what she feared about Aayla and Harry's relationship; it seemed rushed. All of them felt that fear after Order 66. The fear of being hunted like that for the rest of their lives. What kind of existence would that be? Even if most Jedi could accept death as the Force's will, it becomes harder if it comes at the hands of the Sith. Aayla may want to restore something or even fill a hole in her heart by this relationship. And Harry could only do this to have some sort of resemblance to his home, to a normal life.

But even with that, she could see that the bond between the two could grow into something beautiful, given enough time. Harry was right; it will not be an easy path to walk on, even compared to regular relationships. But the promise of what they could find with the other... it may worth it in the end.

"Harry…" she started, her attention settling on a tiny detail in the Force presence of Harry.

"Hmm?" he mumbled back.

"I feel your curiosity about something, and you want to ask me. What is it?" Shaak asked with a tilt of her head.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said as he waved his hand. "Just that you refer my magic as 'Force Sorcery' and you seem, sorry for this, afraid of it."

"Maybe that is because I am afraid of it. I have seen what those powers could do in the wrong hands," Shaak replied with a mirthless chuckle. "They... that power or at least similar powers were seen in the hands of the Sith, but no one else, for what we know, wielded them. I know you are not a Sith!" she hastily added, seeing Harry desired to retort with some less than pleasant words. "It is just weird seeing those abilities being used by you. I can feel no taint of Dark Side in you. It's just confusing me greatly."

"Why don't Aayla and Maris react in the same way?" Harry asked tilting his head...

"Because they do not know about that," Shaak replied with a little grimace. "When we became aware that the Sith still exist, we started to examine our records on them. Holo-films, ancient scripts, even holocrons. The first two categories were officially destroyed after the last great war against the Sith, being ordered by the consensus between Senate and the High Council."

"But of course you didn't destroy all of them," Harry said, knowing that no sane man would destroy such knowledge even if his enemy was destroyed as they believed the Sith to be. "And these holocrons?" he asked about the unfamiliar term.

"Some of our most precious artifacts. Simply put, they store the teachings of the greatest masters of our Order, but they are much more." Harry waited for more, but the Togruta didn't seem too keen on going forward with additional information for now. Well, they had time for it later. "And yes, we did not destroy all of them, but enough to prove nearly useless in our current conflict," she finished.

"So, you seen something similar to my magic and that used by Sith," Harry said, trying to find the answer to this predicament.

"Yes. I know it is... unbecoming of me, but please give me some time. I will get used to it," Shaak replied a bit uncomfortable how she must be seen. A venerable Jedi Master cowering in fear by the sight of some Force abilities she didn't encounter yet.

"Of course. Would it help if I use it for some things? So you can slowly adapt to it?" Harry asked, running his hand through his hair.

Shaak couldn't help but smile at him. "Maybe, but please keep it to small things, ok?"

"Of course," he replied, getting up. "Then, shall we get back to our sparring?"

"Yes," she said as she stood, relieved to have something to occupy her minds with until she could meditate long on Harry's abilities and her conflicting feelings about it.

At noon they meet in Aayla and Harry's suite, though some would argue after the previous night that it was the suite of all of them, not just those two. They all relaxed in their chair with a drink in hands.

"What should be our next move?" Harry asked the three beauties around him.

"We could stay here and train, but..." Aayla said with a frown.

"...there is not a difference between doing so on an uninhabited planet," Shaak finished for her. "It would be even better for us actually."

"So leave the ships in this system?" Maris suggested.

"Maybe over the planet we decide to train on?" Harry proposed, not really seeing the reason why they would need to separate from the ships.

"Maybe, but we need to be very careful on how we spend the warships' fuel," Aayla reminded them of the fact that they didn't have any supply of hypermatter to refill their ship. Unless of course they decided to use the _Traveler_ for it. But it would be strange for one small freighter to only carry hypermatter without other goods. And truthfully they would need more than a few rounds to get enough for the two giants they acquired.

"We should take the _Traveler_ and do some reconnaissance into nearby systems," Shaak said, after a few minutes debating the matter.

Everybody agreeing to the plan and started to prepare for it. Shaak and Maris searched the ship's navi-computer for the right world, while Aayla and Harry got the _Traveler_ ready to flight. Finishing it, the two followed Maris and Shaak, who had already completed their work, to the living quarters.

The search of the three star-systems that the two Jedi chose was easy as far as Harry was concerned, if a bit of a long process. Two had one planet each, which could support life but weren't sufficient for them. One had its entire surface covered by water, aside from some small islands and had quite extreme weather conditions. Storms of the like that Harry never even heard of on Earth, which could and did destroy the islands in an instant. The other while wasn't that unwelcoming had its own problems. Namely it was desert from one polar circle to the other. While they wouldn't need to fear for their life from the elements, they would run out of their water supply rather quick.

Then the third system also had one planet in the life-belt, but it was perfect for them unlike the other two. It was a planet similar to Earth in many ways, both in size and weather patterns. It had several climates from desert to tundra. It had three major continents and several large islands. ' _Sub-continents?'_ Harry wondered if that was what they'd be called back home. But, then he remembered India being one, which only made it more confusing matter to him. In short it was very good place to learn and practice. The energy readings also showed nothing on the planet meaning, that if there was some civilization there, it wasn't advanced enough to use electricity.

Moving the two great starships to the system, then maneuvering both in an orbital course around one of the moons of the planet they had decided to use for training, was again something easy if time consuming activity. After making sure that the ships were secure enough to leave alone, they landed on one of the larger islands near the equator on the planet. It was nowhere near the biggest, though, seeing as it was only about two to three times as big as the UK. One of the continents encircled it from the south, east and north-east, making it pretty defended from tsunamis.

The clearing which they decided to use as landing-field was near a beach, to which the girls seemed to be glad of. Harry could care less about the ocean, sea or whatever was the proper title of that big bucket of water. What had him on the edge was the forest, the good old rainforest, which seemed to ensnare the Jedi with its vibe. Not that he couldn't see the beauty of the place. It was wonderful, especially the beach at sundown. That was a view many would pay a fortune to see.

' _Maybe after all this 'saving the galaxy from evil overlord' thing is over, I could open a travel agency?'_ he thought, seeing his three companions laughing about something or other as they walked over to him.

His fears weren't unfounded. There were several dangerous animals and plants which made themselves known after a couple of days of being on the world. First was a fucking big shark which practically dwarfed the Great White back on Earth. Luckily it didn't come closer than a couple of hundred meters to the coast line. The reason being the extremely high reefs surrounding the island. Some even poked out during low tide. Not that the water itself was that deep. You could walk into it for nearly fifty meters without your chest getting wet at all. Then it slowly started to deepen, until near the reefs it was five to six meters deep at least.

The second was a big cat, well cat-like thing, it was like a lion-sized black leopard with a scorpion tail, and it would only need to have a human face and bat or dragon wings to be exactly like the manticores on Earth. Did he mention that they liked to prowl the land in pairs?

Then came the meat eating plants, which were thrice as tall as Harry. One which had a bulbous dome with several tendrils to catch its prey. The other was like the Dionaea, well a Dionaea which could prey on a hippo, and could be found in small colonies.

The fourth were some hybrid avian/reptilian species, they had seen at the end of their second week, several miles inside the land near to a tall hill in such colorful feathers that a rainbow would be jealous of it. For its fangs and claws could be exchanged with a velociraptor from Jurassic Park without any trouble.

And that was not counting the several less impressive, but still very deadly insects, poisonous mammals (that was quite shocking to him), fish and amphibians. So all in all the flora and fauna of the planet (named X57-Y80 in the cartography) wasn't that welcoming in the slightest.

Despite all of that, their stay was pleasant as far as Harry was concerned. Tiring, but enjoyable. He was put through the grinder by the girls, who seemed to love seeing him soaked in sweat. He could feel the difference in not just appearance, but in himself. Shaak and Aayla both were very persuasive that he learn how the Jedi think about the world. While he was sure that he would never be able to think exactly like them, he could at least understand their point of view. It was, well, a bit of a surreal experience for him. No one really taught him how he should see the world around him, which from a certain point of view was very good. But, he certainly couldn't see the several connections the Jedi could. They looked at the Galaxy as a whole, or at least tried to, and wanted to take care of everything. No one on Earth— at least in the magical world— looked out for everyone or even anyone for that matter, aside from Dumbledore.

His lightsaber training was coming along nicely. After two weeks, Shaak declared him good enough in Makashi to go on Soresu. While Maris was nowhere near the level of a Soresu Master like someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi, she was the most skilled in that style out of the three Jedi.

While he didn't see it, his three companions were astonished at his progress and Force power. Aayla had seen some of what Harry was capable of, but now he was really letting loose. He learned in only about a month as much as a Padawan did in years. Some of it could be from his years of being taught on his home planet in 'Force Sorcery', as they all started to call his magic, but it wasn't just that. He had a great deal of power inside himself, but it wasn't uncontrolled like Skywalker's. Actually, he had a control nearly as good as the best of the Order.

In his free time Harry decided to take a closer look at the armor he acquired from the armory at the former Republic camp back on Felucia.

It was simple in design, practicality over everything else. He heard from Aayla that at first the armors were plain white to show that the clones feared nothing, least of all being seen by their enemies. After the first years the Republic couldn't afford such sentiments and changed for camouflage painting, at least for the scouts, but it wasn't uncommon for entire regiment to be clad in them if the environment required it.

That was an interesting piece of information, but not something he was focused on. His main goal was to discover the armor's weaknesses and strengths. He was mostly curious about any magical resistance it can have.

The armor was made from what Aayla claimed to be plastoid, which was similar to ceramics in their wide range of uses and possible characteristics. A type was used similar to concrete, resistant to heat and sturdy. Another was used as prosthetic material, being able to fuse with bone and flesh. And those were just two uses among the many others. One such being used as armor material.

As there was no reason to use the entire set for testing, so he started the process by disassembling the armor. It was quite a tight fit, though the body glove was elastic to a small degree and the armor itself could be fitted to a body, but not by much. There was little sense making it fit several sizes as mostly clones used it. Nonetheless, it was ill suited for quick running, acrobatic feats or even simply laying down as the material was hardly flexible. Clearly the original thought in the minds of the designer was an army marching straight to the enemy lines as shown in the all-white Phase I armors.

Thankfully his companions could in general tell him it providing great protection from heat, cold, explosion, physical damage and at least very good approximate range of each. From what they told him, the armor was well rounded; protecting the wearer from temperatures well below of freezing, water hot enough to the heat of forest fires, explosions of grenades and shrapnel with little to no difficulty.

Harry of course could tell some results beforehand. Fiendfyre would make a mockery of it, he was sure and there was a very high chance that other high caliber fire spells would do the same. He knew that a cutting curse like _Sectumsempra_ didn't have a problem with getting through it either.

He was fairly impressed by the armor after the first round of tests. Heat and explosions were of little use, which was logical as blaster weapons, the most common weaponry in the Galaxy, contained both qualities of extreme heat and explosion. It was far poorer suited for pure kinetic energy, again not as surprising as it was very, very rare for that to happen. But it was still offered quite adequate protection from it.

What surprised him greatly was the weak magical protection it offered. It was nowhere near the level a good goblin made rune armor, but it was a bit better than mundane armors from the medieval times. He knew not if it was the materials or the metallurgy used to make them that caused it, or maybe a combination of both. In all honesty Harry cared only a little bit about it, a passing interest at most. What had his attention was how he could use what he learned.

In fact he started to wonder if using at least the chest piece would be a good idea. It wasn't heavy enough to make him slow, and he could use only that piece without sacrificing any of his agility. Plus, his chest would be safe. He was still far from his friends' level with lightsaber, who could use it and their weak precognition to get away from five-six blasters without even a singe on their robe.

What he was curious about was if he could use other less straight ways to disable the clones; mainly sound or electrical attacks. It turned out that there was a sound dampener and amplifier if the situation required it. It was quite good and only the loudest or lowest sounds could bypass the controls fast enough to cause discomfort to the clone. Harry put a maybe on that type of attack. Ion particles, however, could be used to disturb the electronics of the armor. Sadly it was used mostly for communication and could be quickly remedied. However, the combination of the two attacks could be usable.

The others weren't idle either. They trained as much as they could both with their lightsabers and Force Powers. Harry tried to teach them as much of 'Force Sorcery' as he could in that amount of time. Shaak, for all of her initial dislike, seemed very good at it. The Togruta Jedi Master seemed very pleased with their progress as well. With that being said, they could feel a bit of tension rising inside them. All four of them wanted to go out there and start to do something about the Empire, but honestly they had no idea where to begin at all.

 **Unnamed planet of an unnamed system, 17.01.12**

It was a tiresome month for Harry. He was weary from the heavy training his beautiful companions put him through. He had forgotten how it felt after almost a decade passing without being instructed, or how tired he was after a long day. So, he was infinitely grateful for the little break they took between two lessons.

"Come on Harry! The water is perfect!" Maris called him out as he was sitting on the shore of the sea, in swimming trunks, watching the girls swimming in the bay.

He just smiled at the girls as he shook his head.

"Aww. Why not?" the teen asked, giving an adorable pout to him.

"Harry, get in!" Aayla ordered him.

Harry couldn't help but sigh. He could tell that his Twi'lek girlfriend was getting annoyed by his reluctance. So, as a wise man he decided not to make her any angrier than she already was and go into that big pool of water.

"Finally! What took you so long?" Aayla asked with a raised eyebrow. She didn't look amused at his antics.

"Sorry. I just wanted to soak in some sun," Harry replied with the half-truth. He did want to get a little tan. The other half was that he didn't know how to swim. Well, he wouldn't drown if land was in a hundred meter range, but it was definitely something he did not do for fun. He liked running and flying, but with swimming he just couldn't see the appeal.

Shaak was the first to notice his uneasy. "Harry, you do know how to swim, don't you?" she asked. The two younger girls whipped their heads to their older companion, and then back to the slowly approaching male of the group.

Harry gave them a reassuring smile. "I know how not to drown." It didn't really make the three females any less worried. "Look, I won't be in any danger as long as I don't get in some current or something like that."

"Well, it's a pretty calm inside the reefs," Aayla's worry seemed to slowly evaporate as she had time to think about it, "but stay close to us, please."

"I didn't plan to wander off," Harry replied with a small, sardonic smile. Aayla rewarded him with a punch to the arm for that. It was at half strength, but she seemed satisfied by the grunt Harry let out. "Ok, I promise I won't go anywhere without you. Are you satisfied?"

"Yes, thank you," she replied with a small smirk, but Harry could see the last sliver of fear leaving her eyes thankfully.

After an hour or so playing around in the water have finally changed Harry's mind about beach at least if not the swimming. Seeing the three very beautiful Jedi girls in bikinis was indeed a nice way for him to spend their first free afternoon in nearly a month's time. Laying down onto their towels, he soon fell halfway between dream and wakefulness.

When he became coherent again, he heard Aayla and Maris whispering about something. When he heard the word 'nude' he bolted up. The view was something else. Aayla and Maris in their dark blue and black bikini respectively lay with their back toward him and looking at the fourth member of their little group. It would seem that Shaak decided to go monokini and laid flat on her stomach. Aayla and Maris looked at him and smirked, glancing back a little.

"Harry, what would you say if we decide to follow our Master's example?" Aayla asked. Just from her voice he could imagine the little, playful smirk on her lips.

"It wouldn't bother you, would it?" Maris added 'innocently'.

Harry was saved from answering the two by the tablet they brought with them. Someone was trying to contact them. The identity of the person was easy to guess as only Queen Jool knew how to.

"I'll go and see what Jool wants." He quickly got up and practically run to the ship, which was only a little bit away. Getting quickly to the cockpit, he pushed the button on the communication computer. At the right side of the computer a small, span wide circle flickered to life as the small holo of Jool's head appeared on it.

"Harry, isn't it?"

"Yes, Queen Jool. I'm glad to hear from you."

"Just as I, my dear. Could you fetch our Jedi friends for me?" The feminine Hutt's voice was gentle, but Harry could tell that it was something she wanted to tell them all directly. Just as he turned to abide to Jool's request the trio of Jedi, thankfully Shaak put her top back on, came into the cockpit. Jool raised an amused eyebrow at seeing the three women in only bikinis, but quickly got over the fact. "Girls, it is nice to see you."

"You too, Jool," Shaak replied in their stead.

Jool looked at all of them before resting her eyes on Shaak. "I won't mince my words as this is urgent matter. Do you know someone named Ahsoka Tano?"

"Yes, she was Skywalker's Padawan. Why?" Shaak suddenly became very anxious.

"My informants say she and a clone named Rex are targeted by the Imperials," Jool replied. "She was chased through at least four systems. The Empire wants her pretty bad."

"Do you have any idea where she is?" The Togruta Jedi looked at her friend pleadingly, only for Jool to shake her head.

"You wouldn't have use of that knowledge, dear." She quickly continued, seeing Shaak wanting to protest, "But, I know where she will be shortly."

"Where?" Aayla stepped next to the navi-computer.

Jool looked at her. "From what my agent could tell they will depart for Raxus Prime in a day at most or could be on their way even at this moment. Soon they will reach it."

"Raxus Prime?" Maris exchanged a shocked look with Aayla and Shaak, leading Harry to assume that it was a fairly unimportant planet. "Why would anyone want to go there?"

"I don't exactly know," Jool was uncomfortable with admitting this as an information broker. "My asset said she was searching for something."

"Something. Do you have any idea what it could be?" Aayla asked curiously.

Jool however just shook her head. "It isn't confirmed, but one of my men overheard her and the clone. He says it is a relic they are looking for."

"It matters little for me. I can ask when we meet her on Raxus Prime," Shaak replied.

"Wait a moment, Shaak," Harry interjected. Looking at the Hutt he had to ask, "Jool, just how sure are your informants that the one they saw was this Ahsoka?"

"A hundred percent sure," came the Hutt's reply, her voice a bit indigent.

Harry could only raise his hands in defeat. "Sorry, but I had to make sure we aren't being led into a trap."

"It's alright," Jool replied. "I double checked for Shaak's sake."

"Ahsoka is very dear to me, Harry," Shaak explained as Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "She is a Togruta just like me and I was a... mentor to her. I need to help her."

"Even if it's her, the Imperials are on her heels," Harry reminded them. "We'll need to be careful there."

"I have to take the risk," Shaak said, her eyes pleading with him.

Harry instantly nodded, "We'll go," he assured her. "I just want us to be ready for anything that may happen."

"I will try and bring better news next time. Farewell, Shaak," Jool said and after a traditional bow from the Togruta Master the connection was cut.

They looked at each other for a moment before everyone sprang into action. Aayla was busy with typing in their course to Raxus Prime into the navi-computer and then making the pre-flight checks on the ship's systems. Shaak, Harry and Maris quickly made sure that they had everything they might possibly need on the planet.

Harry softly asked Shaak who exactly Ahsoka was. Seeing the sudden sadness that overcame Shaak's regal features Harry regretted asking the question, but the older woman answered nonetheless.

Ahsoka Tano was once the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One. Harry heard a lot about Skywalker from Aayla already, but his Twi'lek girlfriend never mentioned a Padawan. Now, Shaak explained why that was. Ahsoka left the Jedi Order a few months before Order 66, after an incident that would shake the Order. The younger Jedi woman was accused of theft and terrorism by the High Council. After the true culprit was found, not everything went back how it should have been. Shaak partly blamed herself for it. She was silent when she should have defended Ahsoka, fearing that her voice would be deemed biased. She could only hope that the younger Togruta knew she was trying to support her.

The _Traveler_ was ready to take off in less than an hour. Harry felt a sudden anxiousness within himself. He was sure that something was going happen in the near future that will turn his life, his new life, upside down.

Not half an hour later, they exited the atmosphere of the planet. The _Traveler's_ target being Raxus Prime.


	7. 7 The Lost

****AN: I know I'm late with this update, but let me assure you that I have reasons for it. Not that it matters much. The important things is that I'm back and the muse with me****

 ** **AN2: Please leave a review! Constructive criticisms are most welcome!****

 ** **AN3: The chapter was beta read by Fairywm. She made a quick and excellent work, so I can only say thank you.****

* * *

 ** **Chapter VI****

 _The Lost_

If someone had told Harry a few days ago that he'd be glad to see a planet such as Raxus Prime, he wouldn't have believed them. He had asked his friends about it and looked it up on the holonet, but no mere holos or words could do this planet justice. From space, the surface was a ball of mud and rusty brown with specks of toxic green and metal young wizard was sure that it was one of the most unappealing planets in the entire Galaxy.

Why would he be glad to be here then? The answer was simple: the trip here was very unpleasant. Shaak was full of stress and worry, and, to a lesser extent, so was Aayla. The tense atmosphere created by them got to Harry and Maris as well. The half a day's journey felt much longer than it truly was.

"Two Lancel-class frigates are on the other side of the moon," Maris reported from her seat in front of the radar screen.

Aayla took a glance at her own much smaller monitor. "Let's hope that the cloaking device holds up against their sensors. I have no desire to tangle with them, let alone something bigger."

The bonus from their ship being used previously by slavers, was that the former owner tried his hardest to avoid authorities. Not surprising given that getting caught as a slaver in the Republic meant instant prison time, most often for life. The less spoken about what happened to those caught by locals, like the Wookies, the better.

However, cloaking devices weren't perfect, not by a long shot. They had to fly with no shield, and with their engines barely reaching half of their maximum capacity. Heat and energy readings, Aayla explained to Harry. The device itself could only make the _Traveler_ invisible to the sensor, but not to the naked eye. It was only a sensor jammer, and an older model at that. There were some devices that made ships invisible to sensors and the naked eye, but those were ridiculously costly, far out of the price range of the average slaver. Of course, the chance of someone seeing anything at such distance, that wasn't a capital ship, while in space was close to null. After they entered the planet's atmosphere that will drastically change.

"What do you think they have?" Harry asked, moving to glance at Aayla's screen, making sure not to disturb her.

It was Shaak who answered instead of Aayla, who was focused on getting them to the surface of the planet. The Togruta woman looked over at Harry from the copilot's seat. "Besides those two? I would be surprised by anything bigger than a Carrack-class light frigate. There is nothing of great importance in this system." she turned back to her screen, ending the conversation for now.

Harry stayed quiet, so his girlfriend could concentrate. The entire group held their breaths, hoping to land undetected.

Luckily, the cloaking device held out. The Imperials made no move indicating they were aware of their presence. After getting through the clouds and smoke, the wizard grimaced at the sight of garbage all over the surface. Mainly metal, but there were other things as well. There was a surprising amount of good landing spots though. Aayla landed without any problem on a deck made of steel at the heel of one of the miles high heaps of scrap.

After they got out of the _Traveler,_ Harry reaffirmed his earlier thoughts: Raxus Prime was truly a big ball of garbage. The Jedi immediately started to move towards a tunnel a little to their right in the middle of a mountain of metal. He couldn't help but smile at their confidence, even with his new found connection to the Force, he would never be this reckless.

"Shouldn't we do something about the ship?" he asked, looking back at the ship, which was in the plain sight from at least one direction.

"There is no need. With all this metal, stresscrete, and electronics there is no way anyone could find it with sensors. Plus, there is very little chance that anyone would come here," the Jedi Master explained, not even stopping to look.

Harry had to concede to Shaak. Sensors would be hardpressed to find anything in these conditions, even a star-destroyer. "There are people living here? Why?" he asked dumbfounded as he trailed after them. He couldn't figure out any reason why anyone would decide to live in what was effectively the greatest scrapyard in the Galaxy.

"Most don't have the luxury to decide to stay or leave. They're the descendants of the miners who came to this planet a long time ago," his blue-skinned girlfriend replied as they picked their way over the garbage strewn path, towards the man-made hole.

"It was an industrial powerhouse 'til three centuries ago," Maris explained, following the two older women carefully.

There was no better example than Raxus on what happens when people got too greedy. So, the Jedi and most in the Deep-Core at least knew what happened here in the past. Most decided to ignore it as it was far away, but the Jedi, while they couldn't do anything about it, at least didn't forget.

"But," the young padawan continued, "after the Overick Griplink was declared a class two trade route, the Gimblim and the Tion Route fell out of practise, and the trade here suffered for it. Adding to that, its resources thinned considerably from the mining companies, and other heavy industry companies that swarmed the planet, then it all became a downward spiral. After nearly two centuries, the mining operations and factories became too expensive to be worth it, so they pulled out."

They reached the dark, man-made hole. It was a nearly seven meters wide with the tunnel going on for who knows how long under the surface.

"Leaving nearly three million people living on this wasteland," Shaak said with a grimace, both from the scent of the tunnel, and the idea of leaving all those people behind. "Thanks to the toxic water, soil and even air the population became half as many in less than three centuries. Most try to live by scavenging what they can find."

"Why didn't somebody do something about it?" Harry asked, looking around at the garbage planet. It would be a monumental task sure, but someone should have at least _tried_ to help the situation.

"You do not know how many billion of credits were spent from the budget," the older woman replied with a frown. It was widely spoken that Raxus was also a prime location for companies if a bit of money, millions or even billions at times, had to disappear. Entire generations lived from the taxpayers' money, while Raxus wasn't in any better shape than before they came.

"It was the same until the Confederate conquered the system," the Twi'lek took up the explanation as they walked on using the light from the tunnel entrance. Shaak led them with Aayla at her side, while Maris and Harry closely followed. "They established several factories and paid the workers well... at least the workers thought it was a well paying job. In reality they didn't get even a tenth of what someone would in the Core."

The tunnel was made of stresscrete, a higher quality of the concrete than Harry was familiar with. Light was scarce inside, it had was once been provided by the small fluorescent lamps, ten meters apart, but most were out of order a long time before they were even born. That was when he realized that this was once some kind of building, probably a factory, but it had been buried in scraps, garbage, starship wrecks and other kinds of industrial waste.

"But at least they had something. It is not surprising that Dooku could win them over so easily. He did more for them in mere years than the Republic did in decades," Shaak finished the tale as she and Aayla lit up their glow sticks, and hand-held fluorescent lamps. The light from two devices' was enough for them to see about twenty meters ahead, a far better improvement from the near complete darkness.

"I see, but I still don't understand something. What could Ahsoka be searching for here?" Harry asked the Jedi Master, who clearly knew the young woman the best out of all them. "What could possibly be here?" He waved his hand around the murky tunnel, indicating the entire junk planet.

"I do not know, but Master Yoda always said that there are secrets on this planet," Master Ti replied softly, her mind focusing ahead of them.

"Secrets? What kind of secrets?"

"I do not know exactly, but Master Yoda would not mention them if they were not important," she admitted, her gaze remaining to the darkness in front of her lantern.

"Maybe there's a surviving Jedi on the planet, and she decided to recruit them to help us?" Maris hesitantly guessed, hopefulness clear in her voice.

Aayla's gaze flickered back to Maris, and then to Harry, and the sorcerer knew that the Twi'lek doubted the possibility of that happening, but didn't want to dash the Zabrak girl's hopes."Let's hope so," she said instead, looking back at the tunnel ahead. "There's little use of us guessing her reasons. We can ask her when we find her," she stated softly, holding up her hand for quiet, effectively closing the conversation.

So, they went on in silence, making turns seemingly at random intervals to someone without a connection to the Force. In all reality, even those with a lesser connection, like Harry, could barely keep the route in mind. He knew that his companions followed the Force's suggestions, but he himself couldn't connect as well with it. Normal methods were next to useless. The walls seemed nearly identical with only horizontal colored lines and digits being of any help, along with some unique garbage and junk on the floor. The occasional windows and doors didn't help either. Some of the doors didn't even open, and those that did either lead to an empty office or a pile of garbage. They were about to make another turn, when Shaak and Aayla stopped. Before Maris and Harry could ask what happened, Shaak spoke up.

"Wait! I feel someone ahead of us," she whispered to them, making a stay back gesture with her hands.

"I don't think it is a Jedi, Master," Maris stated in a low tone, her brow knitting in concentration.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's not her. In fact it feels like a group," Aayla reported, after a moment of focusing on what was ahead of them.

Aayla and Shaak's glow sticks and lamps were immediately switched off. After a minute of quietly stalking forward, helped by Harry's silencing charm, they heard the heated voices of the group ahead. Luckily, there was an entrance from their tunnel to the room. Looking inside, they took in the circular room first. It was large, easily ten meters deep, and about twice across with five tunnels going out of it on the ground floor, four of which were on the same level as Harry and the others. In one corner there were about fifty Imperial soldiers, in another there was a ragtag band of twenty or so mercenary, mostly made up by Rodians and Trandoshans.

"I don't care about your orders, Clark!" the largest Trandoshan growled out in the face of the Imperial officer. A hard faced, older man, whose hair was graying at the sides. The hulking reptilian towered over the human, but to his credit the officer looked more angry than fearful.

"And I don't care about you raiding this planet, trash. Not if you don't give me a reason to," the human spat back, clearly not liking the merc. "You're lucky that you know this place well enough that I will overlook your other... activities. Got that?"

"Yeah," the leader of the band rumbled out, backing up a bit. "Now, will you allow us to do our job or not?"

"Don't believe even for a second that I enjoy working with you, Durk. It's only because you and your men know these tunnels. You help us catching that Jedi girl, and that traitor, and we'll move along as if this never even happened. Sound good?" The man was clearly on the verge of losing his cool.

Durk silently nodded his head as he crossed his muscular arms over his chest.

"We have two platoons, so two squad will go into each tunnel with a group of your men guiding them. We will keep in radio contact. Check-ins every ten minutes. If anyone sees something noteworthy, check-in. If you see the..." the captain continued, only to be interrupted by the merc.

"We know how to do this, Captain. We don't need a babysitter," Durk snarled, he seemed as inpatient as the officer himself.

"You would also do everything to accomplish this if you had to report to Lord Vader," the man hissed out, watching the fearful faces that appeared around him. He let out a savage grin. "Oh, didn't I mention it? Lord Vader will arrive for the prisoner in the immediate future. I don't want to report to him a failure, and I can assure you that you don't want that either. So, shut the fuck up and move out!"

Harry looked on disinterested as the group split into four and went into the tunnels, leaving one unattended. Obviously they had come from that one. His mind was on what the officer said: the Emperor's right-hand man will personally arrive, and in short order. From what he gathered from his companions, they believe that they wouldn't be able to take him down, even in a four against one scenario. While he wasn't that sure that the man could really take them on solely by himself, he wasn't keen on finding out the hard way. Vader was dangerous that much was plain for anyone with a functioning brain.

That being said, his arrival was worrisome, to say the least. Obviously his target was Ahsoka. The clone Rex, more than likely, wasn't important enough to be personally killed by the second most powerful man in the Empire. Unless, he knows something very important, but that was doubtful. And recruiting him was simply out of question, even if he was an elite special force officer, a commander few could measure up to. There were men like him by the dozen, and easily accessible to Vader.

So, there was a pretty high chance that it was the former Jedi girl that the Sith Lord was coming for. Ahsoka had been his padawan, so he would come after her. But for what? Killing her for leaving him behind? Or recruiting her for his cause? Maybe neither of those two, but something else Harry couldn't see at the moment?

"Let's move on." Aayla tapped his shoulder, pointing onwards.

Harry nodded as they moved along the tunnel opposite to them, staying at the same level.

 **Back with Captain Clark**

Captain Clark had been in the military his whole adult life. Military wasn't even the right word for it. Nominally it was a peacekeepers force, but it became smaller and smaller as years went by 'til it wasn't even able to defend the Deep-Core when the Clone War broke out. It was kind of a joke for a large part of the population, and certainly didn't call the respect it once had. The reason was simple: everyone assumed that those who enlisted only wanted easy money and an early retirement. In most cases they were right, and Joonh Clark wasn't an exception to the rule. His grandfather and father had both enlisted, and had served forty years doing little more than parades, they then retired with a nice pension.

Joonh, of course, wanted the same. He wasn't upset about failing his entrance exams as he would've joined the military after finishing his education anyway. What he didn't know was that his time in service would be much different compared to his father's and grandfather's. His old man never left the Core, because he knew the right people, and a few acquaintances of Joonh's grandpa were still around. Sadly, the fact that his superiors had his back made Tomys Clark rather unpleasant to his subordinates. He left before anything happened, but his son was in for a nasty surprise.

Namely his father's friends were long gone, and his subordinates, who had hated him, were now Joonh's superiors. And they decided to take out their frustration of Tomys Clark on Joonh. The truth was that a small part of the Judicial Forces were deployed quite frequently in the Outer-Rim to minimize the violence there. The populace knew of only a few skirmishes, because frankly they had little success. The chance of victory against larger crime syndicates, like the Hutt Cartels or the Black Sun, was nil. Not close to zero, but clearly zero. They had the task forces of the Judicial Forces outnumbered, outgunned, the government bought and had a better information network. So, they mostly hunted small fries, smugglers, slavers. A big fight meant pirates.

Most assigned to those task forces left quickly. They wanted nothing to do with actual combat. Joonh didn't do the same. His prospects outside of the military, working in a factory being the most likely, were not bright by any means. Adding the fact that there was a very low chance of actually being killed thanks to leaving the big players well alone meant he wasn't in a hurry to leave.

When he was reassigned to Raxus Prime, he couldn't decide if he pissed some of the higher ups off even more, or got them on his side at last. After they kicked the Seps out of the system, everything was pretty calm, some occasional raiders and whatnot, but nothing major. He was the third in the chain-of-command, and both his CO and XO were old acquaintances of his. He got pay raises, after all they were still in 'combat-zone' officially. And there were several female locals who were willing to help him relieve stress for a few credits, or simply just to be on the good side of one the most influential men on the planet. So life was good for him, or as good as it could be living on a large pile of rubbish. That was until the Jedi girl came.

Looking around he could see the difference in how his men acted at the start of their hunt for the Jedi girl in the maze of a junkyard. Most were relaxed, joking around or telling stories they heard about the Jedi. Fresh recruits the lot of them. They thought that the Jedi used simple tricks or something. Clark couldn't fault them for it, before the War he had been of the same mind. What he had seen there made him very nervous. And not only him, but the few veterans here and there were also quiet; checking their rifles or just standing around somberly.

There was a reason an entire new division was created to hunt the Jedi down. Of course the Inquisition was a secret service, and Clark was quite suspicious of just how quickly they popped up, since it was right after the Jedi were declared traitors. A bit too convenient to say the least. Not that he cared too much about this kind of thing. What it boiled down to was that there were special units trained for this kind of situation, which couldn't be said of his men.

It wouldn't be bad if he had more than five platoons to search an area twice the size of the capital for two people. Yes, two. Clark heard about the clone she was seen with. Commander Rex, the 501th's former CO was a living legend among the soldiers. He was one of the best of a bunch, who were bred and trained since birth to be the best soldiers the Galaxy has ever seen and succeeded.

The only consolation was that she was only a padawan, so perhaps he won't lose half of his men only for the girl to get away. Not that it was an option for him. Lord Vader was coming personally to take the prisoner. The second most important person in the Empire. Clark heard rumors of how Vader reacted to failure, and despite the obvious exaggerations, he knew his career was on the line.

It was satisfying seeing his men faces after he made it clear who they will answering to in this case. Durk, a fearless bastard of a mercenary, who had seen more actual fighting than all his men put together, visibly shrank back. He could hear three or four curses coming from all around the room. The veterans appeared calmer, which was good, but he could see their mood tensing further.

It mattered not. They moved out, trying to find the girl. Their scanners and sensors were worth less than nothing, surrounded so much metal and whatnot. Not that Clark cared much, as long as the girl stayed on planet. With luck Vader will arrive, undoubtedly with a whole fleet, and he could give the search into their professional, and much more numerous, hands. He wanted to live, thank you very much, and fighting with a Jedi was firmly on his not-to-do list.

"Sir, the beta squad isn't responding to our call," the com officer reported. Well, there goes that plan. They split up nearly half an hour ago and Clark's mood hadn't improved in the slightest during that time.

"The others?" he grunted.

"They reported in as you commanded, sir."

"Could there be some interference from the surroundings?" One could hope after all. Sadly, the com officer shook his head.

"This close to surface? Close to none."

"Sergeant! You and your squad stay here, and set up a check-point! My squad will go and see what happened with Anderson's squad. Signal the Gamma group to send one of their squads as well," Clark ordered with a sigh. He only wanted to live his remaining life in comfort and relative peace. Not to go into tunnels miles deep to retrieve a Jedi and an elite clone trooper. He was never young enough for this shit.

 **In another tunnel a few hundred meters away**

"I think I feel someone ahead of us," Maris said with furrowed brows.

They had walked for a half an hour without a hint of Ahsoka's whereabouts. The surroundings were the same, tunnel after tunnel with the sun only showing in through crumbled ceiling sometimes.

"I am nearly certain that it is Ahsoka," Shaak voiced in a hopeful tone as she focused ahead of them. "I can feel a group as well, most likely a squad from before, along with a separate pair, one of them Force-sensitive."

"I'd find it very surprising to be anyone but your wayward padawan," Harry remarked. Even he could feel that person. The fact that the planet was a wasteland made it much easier to sense someone with the Force.

"And we need to find her before Vader arrives," Aayla said as they nearly ran into the deeper parts of the complex. They only stopped when they reached something that clearly wasn't part of the structure of building. The tunnels leading here were made of stresscrete. The wall before them was some kind of steel, though Harry could see a rather deep layer of rust on it.

"Durasteel?" the blue-skinned Jedi murmured to herself as she gently tapped the wall. Glancing at the rust on her fingertips, she remarked, "I think it's a starship, a freighter perhaps. Or was at least," she corrected herself. This ship will never again fly, after all.

"Did it crashed into the planet?" the wizard asked as he looked at the small part they could see of the hull.

"No, it was more of a crash landing than anything else," his girlfriend replied, but Shaak shushed her.

"I think the group we sensed earlier is inside!" the Jedi Master hissed.

After a moment of concentration, the Twi'lek nodded in agreement. The four of them slowly, and more importantly quietly, walked to the left. After about thirty to thirty-five meters, it became clear that the ship was larger than the original estimation Aayla made as there was no end of the hull in sight. However, they didn't follow it any further as there was a triangular hole cut in the side of the ship.

"Lightsaber marks," Shaak murmured, pointing at the edges of the hole. It was a clean cut and fresh. The user knew how to use the weapon, there were only three cuts, and they didn't overlap each other much.

"It's bigger than I thought it would be," Aayla whispered as they stepped into a hangar bay. It stretched out at least two hundred meters long, and as much across. There were troop stansports and starfighters, apart and whole, all over the surface of it, along with crates of supplies, toolboxes and cabels. Though a rather large area around the hole they just stepped through was clear of any debris. "I don't recognise the model, but it should be at least a cruiser class with a hangar this large." Making it much larger than anticipated.

Among the wrecks was the Imperial squad they had sensed earlier. Eight soldiers, standing in roughly one group, clearly trying to decide on their next course of action. The Jedi and Harry tried to just sneak past the squad, but the wizard managed to kick one of the metal pieces of garbage littering the floor, making it skid across the room and bang into the wall. The sudden noise was loud and clear in the mostly empty hangar. The squad of soldier reacted quickly aiming their weapons right at the group as one of the soldiers tried to relay a signal.

"Stop right there!" the sergeant leading them bellowed, he was fairly quick to regain his wits. "Drop your weapons and surrender!"

"We do not need to fight!" Shaak tried to speak some sense into them. If it was someone with real experience of the Jedi, he or she might have listened to her.

Sergeant Anderson, however, was inexperienced and young, barely twenty-two years old. Not only did he have doubts, to say the least, about the Jedi's so called powers, but the chance of taking in four additional Jedi boosting his career was too much. And if the higher-ups found out that he let them go, he'd be accused (and convict) with high treason and sentenced to death. It was not so surprising that instead of listening to her they opened fire as they took cover.

In other circumstances eight trained soldiers in good position against four, with the nearest cover being three meters away, with only close-quarter weapons would see the four dead without a single soldier dying. However, against their current opponents that was not to be.

The Jedi, and wizard, quickly ran behind a starfighter on either side of them. Their lightsabers deflecting the blaster fire, along with Harry's hastily erected shield. With quick leaps, Shaak was on a duo of soldiers hiding behind one of the stash of crates. With a quick thrust she killed one, and with a half turn she slashed the other nearly in half.

Aayla and Maris took out three more on the other side with one of them always covering the other's blind spots.

Harry, who stayed closer to the hole they came from, cast a _Bombarda_ at the starfighter that was a cover for another two enemy. He only wanted to get them out in the open, but the energy cells didn't agree with the spell. The small explosion threw the two soldiers back. One of them just lay there, his chest unmoving. The other was badly burnt, screaming horribly in pain, in no shape to be any threat to them. The dark-haired human knocked him out with a _s_ tunning spell as he made his way towards the man in question. He was dimly aware of Aayla and Shaak finishing off the remainder of the squad. His hand started to glow as he started to heal the survivor.

After a minute, Shaak stepped next to him, laying her hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle, yet firm squeeze. Sadly, they had no time for him to completely heal the man, not by a long shot, but at least the soldier won't die. Though some would say he already done more than enough for his enemy.

They made their way deeper into the ship by one of the doors to the right. Harry was unsure exactly where they were heading, but the girls, especially Aayla seemed sure of themselves only stopping for a moment or two at crossroads.

"Do you know where we're going?" the wizard asked after the third such pause.

"If this is built like most other starships, we're heading towards the living quarters," the blue-skinned woman replied as the one with the most knowledge about spacecrafts. "Also, I believe there is someone there."

"You believe?" Harry knew he didn't have any right to speak up about her headstrong attitude, but time was not on their side.

"All of us can feel it," Master Ti stated, trying to calm him down, though there was a bit reproach in her voice.

Harry held up his hands in surrender, before focusing on his surroundings using the Force. He had worked on it for quite a while, but there were times when he simply reverted back. It wasn't like he just switched it off, that was not how it worked, but his senses dampened to nearly the point of a regular human.

"And there are fresh footprints in the dust," she added, pointing to said footprints.

"I see," he softly said, after a moment.

After a few minutes of walking through the creaking corridors, they found themselves in front of a large door. More like gate, compared to other entrances in this part of the ship.

"Someone's on the other side," Harry whispered his companions. After a moment, he realized how needless it was: if he could tell then they obviously felt it too.

"Two people actually," Shaak corrected him just as softly.

All of them ignited their lightsabers, not taking any chances. There was a high chance that Ahsoka and Captain Rex were on the other side, but not one hundred percent. As the door opened, Aayla's blue lightsaber flashed out only to be intercepted by a green one.

"Pull back!" Master Ti shouted immediately.

On the other side stood the target of their search. A beautiful, orange hued Togruta girl, who was a couple years older than Maris. Ahsoka was a young woman, with a lithe form, yet possessing all the right amount of swells on it. Her red top was skin tight, enchanting her moderate bosom into an eye candy for men. The dark jeans she wore made her strong legs appear even longer. She wore fingerless gloves reaching her elbow on her fairly muscular arm. Her outfit was completed by a pair of red leather boots. In other words, just as the other female Jedi Harry had the pleasure of meeting, she was drop dead gorgeous.

Next to her stood the former field commander of the 501th legion in a simple black trousers and shirt, and dark brown vest with an utility belt on his hip. He stood about the same height as Harry, maybe a little more muscular. His hair was a very light shade of blond, more than likely bleached considering his naturally darker skin and black eyebrows. He eyed the group, mostly Harry with an uneasy gaze, though he at least lowered his two DC-17 hand blasters.

"Ahsoka!" Shaak breathed out as she threw her arms out to embrace the young girl, completely catching her off guard. "Dear, are you alright? What happened with you?"

"Master Ti, why are you here?" the girl asked back confused as she shook herself out of the hug.

Shaak and Aayla glanced at each other, clearly as surprised at her confusion as she was at their apparent concern.

"We heard that the Empire was searching for you, so we came here to help," Aayla replied carefully. Maybe the younger girl was just surprised at the emotional greeting from Master Shaak.

"Hmph," the girl snorted back, clearly finding it hard to believe. "Even if they are, why would you care?"

"You are one of us. We care about you..." the Jedi Master started, but Ahsoka interrupted her.

"Oh, and when was that? Before or after you accused me of being a traitor without any real proof, or when you left me alone to defend myself?" she asked coldly, her anger at her unjust trial still burning brightly.

"It was far from unanimous vote, I can assure you that," Shaak replied quietly. That was not a moment of the Order which she was proud of. "It was at a time when our Order was under much scrutiny, and some of the Council members felt the need to put the Order's reputation before our personal feelings. There would have been an uproar if we had conducted the trial ourselves. I admit it was a mistake, but at the time it sounded like the lesser evil."

"Despite that, only Master Koon apologized for your so called mistake," Ahsoka said unimpressed while raising an eyebrow at her.

"I was in the other end of the galaxy, if you remember," the older woman reminded her gently. She was on Kamino at the time, repelling an attack on it from the Separatists. "But you should know by now that when a Council member speaks, he or she speaks for the entire Council."

"...I know," the Togruta girl shoulders slumped in defeat. "I just felt so... alone, I guess. And betrayed."

"I do not doubt it, my dear," Shaak replied. She may not fully understood her feelings, but she knew how hard it must have been for the ex-padawan. Ahsoka had been with the Order since she was a child. A new family, no matter how some Jedi wanted to deny such notions. "But, please, allow us to make amends."

"I'm not a Jedi anymore, and I doubt I can be one in the future," Ahsoka replied with a small, sad smile.

Aayla shook her head in response, and softly replied, "But, you are still our friend."

"I... Thank you," the former Jedi said, and now it was she who stepped forward to embrace her role-model.

The rest of the group was content to watch the two Togruta females make up, but Harry had to break the moment."I hate to be the one to say this, but we need to move. The Imperials could be here any moment."

"No, I can't go not now," Ahsoka replied, turning towards him, breaking off her hug with Shaak. "Not when I've found what I came here for."

"Ahsoka..." Shaak tried to reason with her, but the former padawan interrupted her.

"There's a Sith artifact that Palpatine wants, and we can destroy it! I... please, Master, help me," the younger Togruta pleaded with the older woman.

"The Captain and I will delay them, while you four do your thing," the wizard offered after a moment. Ahsoka gave him a thankful smile, while Aayla seemed resigned at hearing his plan. Shaak stared at the younger Togruta girl before she nodded her head to the two men.

"CT-7567 or Rex at your service, sir," the clone introduced himself as they walked out of the room, and readied themselves at another door further down the hallway. Luckily the suite the door led into still had some useful items. Namely two big tables, a wardrobe and other furniture good for cover. Getting them into the corridor was good workout for the two man.

"Harry Potter, and please call me Harry, Rex."

"All Jedi are our superior, sir, even if most of us don't recognize them as anymore," the clone commander replied.

Harry simply shrugged upon hearing that. "Well, I'm no Jedi, so you can stop this sir nonsense."

"But... you have a lightsaber!" Rex exclaimed, pointing at the aforementioned object.

"I have Force-based abilities, but I'm not part of the Jedi Order. I'm simply a friend who wants to help them," the other man replied firmly, wanting to make sure the clone understood that.

"I see," the commander said as he looked at Harry curiously, clearly trying to make some sense to what he heard.

Harry didn't blame him. The situation was not what someone would call average, by any means, but to Rex's credit, the clone commander put it behind him quickly.

Any other conservation was cut short by the arrival of two squads of their pursuers. The first of them dropped instantly with two holes in their chest, courtesy of Rex, who slid behind one of the tables on the left, while Harry decided to stay on the right side of the corridor. The rest of the Imperial soldiers, and mercs, tried to take what little cover they could find, but before they could reorganize themselves, another got hit on his shoulder by the clone, and one of the Trandoshan mercs fell with a _Piercing Curse_ in the stomach by Harry. Rex quickly finished off the two wounded men on the floor.

Then it became a stalemate. The Imperials had the larger firepower, while Harry and Rex had the better cover. The wizard could make up their lack of firepower with spells, but was worried that the entire structure would simply give out. Sound based attacks could work, if he could make sure he and Rex were protected somehow. The problem was that they needed to do something as time was against them.

After a couple of minutes of trading blaster fire, the dark-haired man had had enough. True, two of the enemy were dead and three others wounded, thanks to Rex, and Harry, himself, got the last merc. But, if they wasted more time, more of the Imperials will be here with reinforcements.

"Rex, shut your eyes for a moment!" Harry shouted over the blaster fire, not really fearing that the enemy could heard him.

Rex seemed to have trouble with it, and he was far closer to him. "What?!" he asked, confused at the order.

"Just do it!" Harry, out of the corner of his eye, caught the clone muttering something under his breath, but the grumbling man complied with his request nonetheless. That was all the time he needed. " _Lumos maxima_!"

The sudden flash of bright light worked like it was intended, if the cries from the other end of the corridor were any indication. Harry ignited his lightsaber and left his cover to dash at the enemy. The problem was that not all of them were blinded by his spell, but his training with Aayla paid off as the few shots headed his way were quickly deflected.

The first soldier he passed was clutching his eyes, clearly out of the combat. With a quick stunning spell, Harry made sure he stayed that way. The next, however, tried to shoot him only to have his arm cut clean off. The next moment the wounded man dropped to the ground dead as with the same movement the wizard twirled his lightsaber into a reserve grip, and stabbed the soldier in the chest. With a simple move, he returned it to it's normal grip and slashed at another soldier's chest. Two others were shot by Rex, who after understanding Harry's intent, ran towards them, using the chaos the human had caused to his advantage.

The remainder of the two squads, seven half blind men, made their retreat. Harry put up a shield for their cover fire, but didn't try to engage them in any other way. Rex shoved his two blasters inside their holsters.

"I hope the girls finish their work shortly, because we cannot stay here much longer," the dark-haired wizard remarked dryly. "They'll come back soon, and I doubt we could take them out the same way again."

"We won't know until we try," the clone commander said as he looked at the other man with something akin to nostalgy.

"What?"

"Nothing. You just remind me of my former commander," Rex replied with a small smirk. "He was brave and headstrong like you. And..." He looked at the bodies around them. ".. you are just as reckless as him."

"I had a plan!" Harry protested loudly.

Rex only nodded sagely at that. "Yes, he always said that as well."

"Hey!"

 **Down another tunnel**

Aayla watched as her boyfriend and the clone captain departed. She knew she shouldn't be worried about them. Rex was a seasoned soldier, and Harry was nothing less than her equal. Yet, she felt uneasy with the thought of him fighting without her there.

Shaak shot her a look that promised a conservation after they left the planet, but for now she turned back to the two younger women to introduce them to each other. "Ahsoka, I would like to introduce you to Padawan Maris Brood."

"I didn't know you took a new padawan, Master," Ahsoka replied, while she bowed to the Zabrak girl.

"My master was... killed at the Temple... during the... at Order 66th," Maris replied shakily. Those days were still fresh in her mind.

Ahsoka just tightly hugged the girl to her. "It will get better, I promise," she cooed softly to Maris, who clung to her.

"It's... I'm fine."

"Trust me, if you have to tell me that you're _fine_ then you're really not," the orange-skinned ex-padawan said in the no nonsense voice she had developed for her master when he was particularly difficult. "I know, I'm not fine. Not after knowing that my former master has fallen to the Dark Side, and led an assault upon the Temple."

"How do you feel?" the Jedi Master asked worriedly, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder, while Aayla did the same to the wide-eyed Maris.

Ahsoka just shook her head in response. "We can speak about that later. Now we have to focus on this device," she said as she lead them inside the room.

Neither Shaak or Aayla seemed pleased for that question to be pushed off, but they didn't comment, instead they followed the younger Togruta. When they got there, they noted that there was an old bronze sphere floating in the middle of the room

"After I left," the ex-padawan explained, "I tried to discover anything about the Sith. Dooku was fairly easy to get information on, though not as much as someone would expect while being the leader of one side of the war. But his master, Darth Sidious... that information was a much harder pursue. I found little to nothing, as you must have expected. Not at first anyway. Just his name and some of his dealings so old the trails were snow cold by the time I came upon them. But, I found out something. Sidious fanatically collected older, sometimes ancient, Sith artifacts. For what purpose I don't know. This should be one of those devices," she finished, gesturing towards the sphere.

"What does it do?" Aayla asked curiously, examining the strange orb. It was about five feet in diameter, made out of bronze, with two intercrossing lines of Sith hieroglyphs on it.

"Theoretically, it should show us the location of the talisman of Karness Muur, an ancient Sith Lord," Ahsoka explained. "The problem is that the sphere has to be opened through the Force. I tried for hours, and failed each time. Maybe Master Ti can do it..." she trailed off uncertainly.

"You could not make any progress with it?" Shaak asked with her eyes on the orb, analyzing it carefully.

"No."

"Then I very much doubt that I could open it by myself," the Jedi Master admitted. "I believe we will need all four of us to do so."

"How did you know where to find it?" Aayla asked Ahsoka as she stepped closer to the orb.

"Two weeks ago I captured an inquisitor. After some probing, he revealed to me the location of Muur's ship, this ship, and that it probably contained the information of the amulet's location," the young Togruta explained. "Shall we do as Master Ti suggested?" she asked, and got nods in return.

With that, the four of them started reaching out to the sphere with the Force, taking hold of it. The orb started to spin as they made contact with it. It had several lines running around it, and a little light then flashed as its surface making it slide open, revealing the inner diamond shaped core of pure crystal. As the 'orb' opened, a red hologram of a planet appeared before then, with several line of data around it.

"Which planet is it?" asked an excited Maris.

"Korriban, the homeworld of the Sith," Shaak replied, unease entering her voice. She never intended to visit that planet, certainly not with two padawans. "Are you certain that this is where that talisman is?" she asked Ahsoka.

"Yes."

"And you are sure that it is important enough to go to that place?" the older woman asked, as she looked over the holo of the planet.

"From what I gathered it gives the user the power to create and control entire armies," the younger woman replied. It sounded bad, since Palpatine already had an army of his own.

"Create and control?" Aayla questioned with a raised eyebrow at those specific words.

"Maybe it just means that whoever has it can control the minds of an army," Maris suggested. In all honesty that was much worse than gaining a simple army. If there was ever an opposition to the Empire, and Palpatine gained the ability to control over even just a little part of it, it would have disastrous effects on the cause against his rule.

"That would be even worse," the Twi'lek said after a moment. There was no time to dwell on the subject as the sounds from outside became much quieter. The four were out the door in an instant, the orb closing after they stepped away from it. On the other side they found a mostly unharmed Harry and Rex much to their relief.

Harry had a small cut, barely more than scrape. "Are you done?" he asked them. "The sooner we leave the better."

"Yes we can go," Shaak confirmed with a nod.

The group ran back, taking the same route they used to get there. Surprisingly no one waited for them and as far as they could feel no one was even in the vicinity.

"How did you get here?" Aayla asked Ahsoka as they ran through the hole in the hangar and down the tunnels.

"Public transport," the younger girl replied. "I had hoped that we'd be less noticeable that way."

Obviously that part of the plan failed, but at least they didn't need to worry about their ship or separating from them again.

Luckily they left the _Traveler_ ready for launch. The energy it emitted, since the engines weren't completely shut down, was barely noticeable on a normal planet. Here nothing could spot it if they weren't looking specifically for it. After a nerve wrecking five minutes, they were ready to take off.

"So, what now?" Harry asked from behind the pilot's seat.

"Now we escape those V-wings on our neck, then go to Korriban," Aayla replied as she took a look at the radar screen. There was little chance of them being caught. While the V-wings were nowhere as fast as the Eta-2 Interceptors, they were still faster that the _Traveler_. However, the base from which they came was pretty far away. With a bit of luck, they'd leave the gravity well before they could catch up.

"Which is what exactly?" he asked back.

"The ancient homeworld of the Sith," Shaak replied dryly.

"Well, that's great!" Harry's voice had just a touch of sarcasm in it. "First a planet of garbage, and now the homeworld of the evil counterparts of you lot!"

"Are you afraid, Harry?" Aayla teased the man with a little smirk, though it was a bit strained.

"Haha. Only for you, luv," Harry riposted, his smile a lot less forced compared to hers.

"If you two are done flirting, some of you should go to the turrets as those V-wings are starting to gain on us," came Shaak's amused voice from the co-pilot's seat, even as the red-skinned Togruta was busy typing in their destination into the navi-computer.

"Alright, but we aren't finished, dear," Harry said as he leaned over to give a quick peck to Aayla's check. Before he could straighten himself, she caught his head and smashed his lips to hers.

"Good hunting," she said to her mate as she let go of him.

"Thanks," her boyfriend replied as he gently cupped her cheeks, and then he stole another quick kiss before leaving the cockpit.

Rex and Ahsoka looked at the Twi'lek shocked as they looked at the pilot and the door where the male disappeared. The commander was the first to collect himself, and he hurried after the other human, deciding it really wasn't his business.

"I... what?! What was that? You and him?" Ahsoka seemed frozen in her seat as she gawked at Aayla. She had felt the bond between the two the moment the two groups met, but did not dwell it on much. To be fair they had had much more pressing issues to worry about at the time. And it wasn't like she, herself, didn't have a bond like that with another. ' _Well not exactly_ _ **like**_ _that,'_ she corrected herself.

"Yes," Aayla answered, her cheeks darkening a little bit. She was a bit uncomfortable with the attention their relationship got from Shaak and Maris. It was a very new territory for her, after all. Thankfully, the two other Jedi sensed her embarrassment and didn't cross the line.

"Isn't that... you know... kind of forbidden?" the petite Togrutan asked, looking between Shaak and Aayla, confused at the lack of reaction by the Jedi Master. If someone looked past the little smile playing on her lips anyway,

"Well, Harry isn't a Jedi..." the Twi'lek trailed off at the look Ahsoka gave her. "Look, can we talk about this when we aren't in mortal danger?" she asked, indicating towards the approaching fighters.

"Alright. But, I want to hear everything!" the younger girl gave in, a bit miffed to be brushed aside that easily.

After they left the atmosphere, they allowed a sigh to escape them. From the looks of it, the starfighters won't be able to even fire at them. The same could be said for the frigates coming from the left. A few minutes later, the _Traveler_ entered hyperspace without any trouble.

Aayla, with the quickness and precision befitting such an experienced pilot, made sure that everything was in order on the screens in front of her. Shaak, who had far lesser things to check, waited for her at the door. The Twi'lek woman sent a smile in thanks, before the two women went to find the others, who had left to tell the men that danger was over. Not surprisingly, the two women found them sitting around the dejarick table in the longue. Aayla wasted no time in sitting next to Harry, leaning into him.

The man broke his conservation with Rex for a moment to give a kiss to her temple, before going back to talk with the clone. His hand, however, snuck around and gently massaged her shoulder.

It wasn't the best, their positions were less than ideal for it, but Aayla was satisfied with it. She wasn't upset about not being involved in the talk between the two men. For one, it was about blasters, where Rex tried to teach Harry a bit of his pretty huge experience. On the other hand, she was also, even if it was left unsaid, the most worn out member of their group. Piloting didn't seem like that much of a hassle, but try to say that in one of the Outer-Rim canteens and you will have a brawl coming your way. Sometimes it could be easy true, though your focus must never waver. Especially if it was Raxus Prime you tried to land on. Or the ancient home of the Sith.

"Alright, can someone explain what's going on?" Ahsoka asked exasperated, waving at the cozy couple. She wasn't about to judge them, but as far as she knew the Order had clear rules on that kind of attachments.

"We're a couple, Ahsoka. It's that simple," Aayla responded calmly, if a bit dryly.

"We can speak about Harry and Aayla's relationship later, Ahsoka," Shaak interrupted them, seeing as the younger girl wanted to pursue that conservation far further than what the cuddling two would be comfortable with. "I would like to hear what you know about this talisman we are going after."

"Well, not much," Ahsoka admitted with a sheepish shrug. "I know that it's either made from gold or some other precious metal or amalgamation of those. It's said that it gives the user amazing power..."

"Power to raise and control an army," Master Ti recalled her words.

The younger Togruta nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that's what I was able to guess from the ancient Sith texts I found."

"Brainwashing?" Harry asked after a moment of silence. The conservation between the clone commander and himself was put to rest for now, since there were more important things to deal with.

"I honestly don't know, but however it works I am sure it's a powerful weapon in the wrong hands," she replied, very worried over this.

"From what I remember reading, Karness Muur was considered one of the greatest dark lords of the ancient times," Maris mused out loud. "But, I don't recall any amulet or talisman associated with him."

"We lost most knowledge of that time, Maris," the Jedi Master reminded her gently, though she was troubled as well. "It is very possible that our records of this Sith Lord are, or were, incomplete."

"And Korriban? What do we know the planet?" Aayla asked. Knowing more on the Sith Lord or his amulet was good, but she was more worried about the planet itself.

"It is a barren world," Shaak replied a bit sadly. "Ever since the Jedi and the Republic laid waste to the Sith in the last battle of the Old War. No Jedi has been on its surface in recent memory, and none would do so unless there was a dire need for it."

"Unless of course your information is wrong about that too," Rex said, crossing his arms, looking grim. "No disrespect of course, General, but it seems to me that we are going into the Unknown, with capital U." Something he tried to avoid at all cost.

"Because we are," the red-skinned Togruta admitted without shame. "And I can understand your... frustration, shall we call it that? I heard from Master Kenobi that you like to know every little detail about your missions."

"The more we know, the easier is to be victorious," the clone commander replied a bit sheepish. He was called a great many things by his comrades for his habit of reading report after report. "Do we at least know something about the wildlife?"

"The dangers won't come from the animals, Commander," Aayla corrected him.

"Then from where?" Rex asked puzzled. If there was no population, then the only thing they should be worried about was nature itself.

"The Dark Side, Rex," Ahsoka answered with a sense of foreboding. "The entire planet will be flooded with the Dark Side."

Rex shook his head. "I... you know that I don't understand this Jedi business. You say Dark Side, and I only see a couple of ruins."

"Maybe it will be for the best that you do not understand it," Shaak said, effectively closing the conservation.

After that the conservation became much lighter, primarily directed at each other whereabouts during the following weeks of Order 66th, and Ahsoka's own trials, after she left the Temple on Coruscant. The former padawan enthusiastically listened to the duo's, and later quartette, adventures. She was especially curious about Harry and Aayla's bond. From what the others had told him, the wizard already expected her to be... less rigid on the matter of the Jedi Code, and the young Togrutan woman indeed seemed free spirited.

"My first destination was Shili," Ahsoka started her tale. "I wanted to speak with Mom and Dad. They were very understanding of my situation. What really surprised me, was Chief Ashara and Lady Raana. They were also very supportive."

"Lady Raana is the shaman of the tribe Ahsoka is born to," Shaak explained to Harry. The shamans, of course, weren't powerfully Force-sensitive, although they did have some connection with it. They were the spiritual leaders of their people, and Ahsoka needed exactly that when she suddenly found herself alone in the galaxy. The members of Togrutan tribes were close to each other. Individualism wasn't encouraged, at least compared to most humanoid species, after finding out your natural talents, which could help the tribe. There was a high chance that Ahsoka's decision to leave the Jedi Order could have been perceived as her turning her back on her new tribe.

Luckily, it hadn't been like that. True, Togrutans were very group oriented, but it was a two-way street: you helped the tribe, and the tribe helped you. Making an enemy out of a Togrutan, if he or she wasn't exiled, often meant making an enemy out of a tribe. Sometimes, though rarely, even the whole planet.

"I spoke with them, all four of them, for hours upon hours and meditated even more," the orange-skinned girl continued on. "After nearly a month, I started to pull my weight and helped wherever and however I could, mostly as a mechanic. It helped, to finally have something to do, to be useful to others."

"Maybe you are no longer a Jedi in name, Ahsoka, but in spirit you remained on our way." Shaak said, smiling softly at her.

"Thank you, Master Ti," Ahsoka replied with her own little smile.

"Please, call me Shaak, dear. We are not in the Temple anymore, and I am your aunt, after all," the older Togruta chided her gently.

"What?!" Maris shouted in shock, and the others weren't much better. they all stared at the two women, surprise registering on their faces.

Both Aayla and Rex seemed frozen, while Harry, who got over the news quickly, turned towards Shaak with an amused grin."You seem to have forgotten to tell us this little bit of information."

"Did I now?" she asked back, amusement clearly dancing in her obsidian eyes.

"Don't tease them, Aunt Shaak," Ahsoka said as she gently bumped the older Togrutan sitting next to her. "We are distantly related. Three times removed, I believe."

"Why weren't we told about that before?" Aayla asked, still shocked at it.

"Only a select few knew," Shaak replied with a shrug. "I did not want any rumors about favouritism, even if we are only very distantly related."

"Can we go back to my story?" asked a flustered Ahsoka. Getting agreeing nods of heads and murmurs she continued, "After a month, raiders attacked one of our colonies while I was there with Father and Chief Ashara. I had to use the Force to defend my people and..."

"And?" Maris asked curiously, leaning forward, her eager dark blue eyes boring into Ahsoka's lighter blue.

The Togrutan girl looked away with a light blush on her face. "I understood that my path was to leave Shili, and fight against the Dark Side. My parents, the tribe... they all understood it. They helped me prepare for my journey and built a pair of new lightsabers. I still occasionally visit them," Ahsoka shrugged as well. "I started with hunting down the client of those raiders. After some searching, and probing here and there, I learned that it was Darth Tyranus. I looked at it as a sign from the Force that if I want my people safe I need to fight the Sith."

"You went after them alone?" Maris admiration seemed to reach new heights with each word.

"A dangerous endeavor," Aayla said. Then with a smirk added, "And an admirable one."

"True enough. You are still as recklessness as ever," Shaak gave a long suffering sigh. "I hope nothing bad happened there."

"Well, nothing too bad," Ahsoka replied with a grin, to which the two older Jedi just raised their eyebrows at her. "Alright... Maybe the first month was nothing more than going this way, then that and so on. But, after I got the hang of it, I totally rocked!"

"Meaning?" the red-skinned woman asked, a little amusement entering her voice.

"I may or may not have destroyed an ancient Sith temple..." Ahsoka smiled at her innocently. Before her aunt could start fussing over, she started speaking again, "At Order 66th Rex lost his faith in the Empire, so he sought me out, and we've been together since."

"And your story?" Aayla looked pointedly at the clone commander.

"Ma'am, I'm a soldier of the Republic," Rex answered crisply, all but sitting at attention. "I was ordered to serve it, fight for it, and die for it if necessary. I was trained from birth for this purpose alone. Why would I bow down to the Empire when I should fight it?"

"That's pretty interesting way to see it," Shaak remarked, before exchanging a quick glance with Aayla.

"Most of the officers are taught, programmed like that, but some of us found a control chip inside of us. Most of us took it out at once," the commander said plainly. "When I heard that after Order 66th there was to be a team assembled to hunt down the kid, I went to find her." Here he gestured towards Ahsoka, who very maturely blew raspberry at him "In all honestly, I wouldn't risk my life for most Jedi."

There was a heavy silence after that. Everyone looked at the two older Jedi wondering their response for that. The two glanced at each other then shrugged.

"Well, at least you're honest with us," Aayla said.

"Thank you for that," Shaak replied.

"You... you aren't upset?" Rex looked at them stupefied.

"A little," the older Jedi woman acknowledged. "But, that you do not want to sacrifice yourself for some faceless men or women means only that you are not just a bio-droid like some like to think clones are. You are a person."

"And you aren't angry at my selfishness?" the puzzled man probed them more. "You Jedi are always on about that, after all."

"Are you a Jedi, Commander Rex?" Shaak asked back with a blank face and raised eyebrow.

"No, ma'am, I'm not." came the clone's confused reply.

"Then why should we hold you to the same standards that we hold our members?" the Twi'lek asked at once.

"I... don't have an answer for that," the confused man admitted, looking for the answer in the two older Jedi's face, but finding none. He would have to figure this out for himself.

"Will you help us against the Empire?" Master Ti asked, leaning forward hopefully. Having this well-trained soldier on their side would be a great boon.

Rex glanced at Ahsoka, who gave him a 'it's up to you' motion, before nodding that he would. If only to protect the ex-padawan.

"We, of course, don't want you to risk your life for nothing," Harry interjected, not wanting the man to think they were taking advantage of the situation. "We can pay you for your services."

"I'm not a mercenary," Rex reminded him coldly, the offer clearly insulting to him.

The dark-haired man held his hands up in surrender, confusion clear on his face. "I didn't say that you were, but you'll be working for us, so it's natural that you should get paid for it," he explained his reasons. Getting blank looks from everyone, including Rex, he couldn't help but groan. "Don't tell me that the clones weren't paid for fighting for the Republic!" he was flabbergasted at that thought.

"Paying nearly twenty billion soldiers was not an option at the time of the War. Moreover, as I said, most people think of the clones as bio-droids," Shaak replied, looking apologetically at Rex who just waved his hand.

"It doesn't matter after all this time, does it?" the soldier stated.

"Are there any other soldiers who will fight with us against the Empire that you know of?" Harry asked a question the Jedi hadn't even considered. He let the issue of pay go for now, since the others didn't seem to understand.

"Maybe, but I cannot guarantee anything. I have heard of several groups who deserted, but if they will fight beside you or not... That I can hardly guess."

"Alright! Now, that being said and done, you two can go and do... something!" Ahsoka said with a wide grin, pointing at the two men.

"Something?" Rex asked, surprised at the order.

"They want to gossip," Harry explained as he rolled his eyes at the women, and got up from his seat. "You lot could put any other group of women that I knew to shame."

"Yeah-yeah, we know, we're terrible," Aayla replied, shoving him towards the exit with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you."

"Let's go, Rex," Harry sighed, tugging the soldier's sleeve, and heading for the door.

"Aye, aye, sir. Can we shoot somewhere? You said you needed to work on your accuracy, yes? No time like the present," Rex said blankly, but with a grin in the corner of his mouth.

Harry couldn't help a mental sigh as he heard giggling the moment the lounge's door closed. He was pretty sure that he was the topic on that discussion. "Rex, when do we arrive on Korriban?"


	8. 8 The Shadow of Korriban

****AN1: I want to offer a giant thank you for Fairywm who beta-ed this chapter. In short amazing and quick work.****

 ** **AN2: I came across a very interesting video series by Belated Media on youtube What if Star Wars Episode I was good (and Episode II and III). They are very intersting to watch with a bunch of cool ideas.****

* * *

 ** **Chapter VII****

 _The Shadow of Korriban_

Rex turned out to be a decent teacher when it came to weapons or hand-to-hand fighting. Harry never had any particular interest in either of them, so the former commander had his hands full with him. On Felucia he had tried his newly acquired DD-20 heavy blaster pistol with minimal improvement on his accuracy, though he had had much more pressing matters to attend to. While he was a bit more inclined to learn, it was mostly for being forced into incognito. They couldn't use the Force, or their lightsabers, every time a fight broke out with them in the middle. Hearing that a horde of bounty hunters will be after them, as Jedi heads worth a small fortune or in some cases a large one, not to mention the Empire and its Inquisition, Harry decided that at least one of them beside Rex should learn how to shoot and as the only one even remotely interested it was his job.

The easiest part was the use of hand blasters. The difference between Rex's and Aayla's help was clear to anyone with eyes. Of course Aayla knew next to nothing about blasters and the commander was something of a weapons fanatic, but Harry had to admit that Rex obviously knew his stuff. That was apparent when they made a little 'contest' in the cargo of the _Traveler_. Three targets were lined up twenty five meters from them. The 'contest', if you could call that as such, was over in less than a minute. Harry sometimes didn't even hit the target's edge while Rex's only problem was where he wanted to hit his own, then making six sure kill hits in less than five seconds. The soldier however made something clear to the other man: the clones were trained and bred for this, Harry was not. The young wizard will probably never reach his expertize or even close to it.

When it came to hand-to-hand training, things only became worse for Harry. He had never practiced martial arts, let alone those styles where the intent was to quickly and efficiently take down your opponents, like what the clone troopers used. The displaced male had near superhuman reflexes, and was one of the fastest men alive, which was more than enough against an average man. The native soldier, however, was anything but average. He was both more skilled and experienced than the man he was training. It came to no one's surprise that Harry got his ass handed to him, badly and repeatedly.

So the 'contest' quickly became a training session. And let it be known that Rex was a harsh teacher. Despite the fact that Harry will probably only use these skills on very rare occasions, he demanded the best from the sorcerer. After nearly an hour of learning how to grab, toss, hit enemy, and how to fall the commander seemed satisfied, if only a little bit, with the emerald-eyed man's performance.

Harry's next idea was one of those that the blond-haired man referred as Jedi nonsense. The dark-haired man decided that as the other man was quite the marksman and he, himself, was skilled with the lightsaber, so they could try and use both to maximize their training. Meaning that Rex would fire on him, and Harry would try and deflect the incoming bolts. The clone commander had a very bad feeling about it, and had a reason for that in the form of a Rutian Twi'lek.

He was, of course, correct. They had only been at it for about a quarter of an hour when the girls entered. They all were distressed, obviously thinking that the two men were really fighting over some issue. When they cleared the air, Aayla started ranting about "stupid, idiot males", who had "egos and competitive sides of the size of a bantha", and were indeed only as "smart as one". While the blue-skinned woman paced around the room, the other three women nodded along quite enthusiastically.

Harry could only stare wide-eyed at his girlfriend as she seemed to get more and more into tearing him a new one. He did not know what a 'bantha' was, but got the gist of Aayla's speech.

When Rex finally decided to try and defuse the situation, injecting that he had powered down the blasters so the shots would have left nothing more than a slight burn after then and a little numbness, Aayla shot him a look that left the veteran soldier shaking like a leaf. When she opened her mouth to berate him even more, Harry decided it was enough of that, and grabbed Aayla's waist, spun her around, and silenced her with a kiss.

"I'm sorry, love. We were only training a little, nothing more," he said, after breaking off the kiss. "I'll admit it was mistake not talking with you first, but it was pretty harmless."

"I bet you wouldn't say that if I cut Rex's head off like I wanted the moment I saw this... 'training session,'" Aayla growled, still a bit put out by the display she just seen.

"Well, I suppose that's true," the wizard admitted with a shrug. "We'll inform you the next time we decide to do something like that."

"You'd better, because I didn't like it," the Twi'lek replied hotly. "Seriously, Harry..." she said more softly, after seeing that Harry still didn't grasped how worried she was, "...it wasn't that long ago that the clones betrayed us. Seeing one shooting at you..." She put her head on his shoulder, willing him to understand.

"Fuck," Harry swore quietly, realizing how stupid his idea was in hindsight. "I'm sorry. I didn't think that one out, did I?"

"No, you didn't," she replied, finally relaxing in his arms. "Next time we land on a civilized world, you have to take me somewhere nice as an apology," Aayla stated firmly, making sure that he would do just that.

"Yeah, of course. Whatever you want, love," he assured her quickly. He was more than a little relieved that he got off with only that much. Though he had a feeling it was only because the situation stayed relatively calm.

"I'll hold you on that."

The couple looked at the rest of the group, and it seemed that Ahsoka already finished chewing Rex out on their stupidity. It was pretty amusing seeing the tall, battle hardened former field commander of the 501st regiment being scolded by a young woman half his weight. After she finished with a huff, Ahsoka turned towards the Maris and Shaak and the four started to talk about the recent news in the Galaxy.

"I still can't believe it," the youngest Padawan answered to what she said. "Why would they leave Kashyyyk?"

"What are you lot talking about?" Harry asked as the pair joined them.

"There was some news that Wookiees have been leaving Kashyyyk," Maris replied with a worried look on her face. "And not just a few families or something, but tens of thousand. I don't understand it. Kashyyyk is more to the Wookies than just a planet."

"It is," Shaak agreed with a nod, looking grim hearing the news. "I did not think there would ever be any reason for them to do so."

"Maybe there's some kind of poison or toxin, which the Separatist released just like the news said," Ahsoka reasoned. It wouldn't be the first time the Separatist used such tactics.

"You do not believe that Imperial bureaucrat more than I," the older Jedi replied with a frown. "The Wookies would not leave Kashyyyk without at least trying to solve whatever the problem is."

"It was an Imperial who said this?" Harry asked after a moment. "And no Wookiee said anything about it?"

"Yes, they said that there is only some drawn out plans if some of the Wookiees would like to settle on another planet," Rex replied, having heard bits and pieces of the situation before they met up with this crew.

"I don't understand. It's obviously just Imperial propaganda," Harry said, causing the others to nod their heads at that. "But what could the Empire attain with this farce?"

"Perhaps..." Maris started, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Perhaps, they want to steal the star-maps of the Claatuvac Guild without being found out?"

"Possible, very possible," Shaak said, pursing her lips together as she contemplated that. "However, that would be a very dangerous game to play, especially this soon after the Empire was established. I do not think they will force the issue, not for a while at least."

"Claatuvac?" Harry asked, not familiar with the term.

"One of the Galaxy's oldest and most influential navigator guild," Aayla replied to her lover's question. "It's said that they possess many ancient star-maps describing routes long forgotten, which could reform all we know about space-trade and routes." Unsaid was that such routes could be used for much more than just trade.

"Sounds valuable." It was obviously was. Trade was the greatest avenue as it had a connection to everything.

"An entire campaign was fought to keep them safe," Ahsoka explained. That campaign was fought after she left the Order, but she heard of it. Hell, she doubted that anyone having access to news didn't hear of it.

"If I know anything, it is that Chief Gumbaeki will not allow that data to fall into the wrong hands, no matter what," the Jedi Master stated with certainty. The Wookiees were famous for their honor and loyalty.

"Well, that's good to hear, I suppose," Harry said uncertainly. There was more than one way to get such information after all. "Now if you don't mind I have to take a shower," he added, noticing that he kind of smelled.

"He looks good with sweat," Shaak remarked with a small grin, as they watched the man's retreating form.

"He sure does," Aayla replied with her own grin. "And you know what? He looks even better with nothing on!"

"Oh my, Aayla!" the older woman exclaimed mockingly, raising her hand before her lips. "How daring of you!"

"Please, as if you didn't checked him out at the beach!" the Jedi Knight replied with a tinkling laugh, not in the least bothered by it. "Well, I think I should also retire to my cabin."

"But don't you and Harry share a cabin?" Maris asked confused.

Aayla let out another giggle as she walked -skipped- out of the cargo hall. Shaak and Ahsoka hugged the confused Zabrak girl between them, cooing at her, while Rex also walked out shaking his head.

A few hours later, they assembled again in the cockpit. In just a few minutes they'll exit the hyperspace at Korriban. A planet that was at the very core of various Sith empires, and Orders, for the last few thousand years. Harry was curious how such a planet would look.

Two minutes later, they exited the hyperspace, and Harry's first thought in seeing the planet before them was Mars. Korriban was very alike to the Red Planet at first glance. It was mostly russet, with some smaller, or larger, spots of white and brown, and a few greenish brown ones with the twin icecaps. However, it was far larger than Mars, even larger than Earth, with seven moons instead of the other planet's two. However, that wasn't what grabbed their attention.

"Somehow when I look at it I find myself a little nervous," Rex said cautiously. His face was a blank mask, but his eyes betrayed the true scale of his feelings.

"It proves how much of the Dark Side has engulfed this planet, when even a non force-sensitive can feel it," Shaak said from the com-seat. All of them held themselves rigid, with all of their attention on the planet.

"This is what you felt when you faced Ventress?" the commander asked Ahsoka quietly.

"No. What you feel is nothing compared what we can sense," the orange-skinned girl replied from where she sat in front of Shaak, in the co-pilot's seat. "And Asajj is very complicated person."

"I still can't believe you would work with her," Rex murmured quietly, but not quietly enough.

"Working with Ventress?" Shaak asked sharply, looking at the younger Togruta with narrowed eyes.

"She isn't that bad," the ex-Padawan defended the former Dark Jedi. She felt that Shaak was being a bit unfair, given her own contact with a Hutt information broker, who was in and out of the Hutt Great Council. Since those positions were often filled after the previous owner's unfortunate death it was quite rare, if not unique, to see someone getting on it more than once. The young Togruta didn't want to think on why or how Jool sat on the Council so many times. "She was lost and lonely at the time, and Dooku capitalized on that and twisted her into what you saw."

"Just like Aurra Sing," Aayla interjected slowly as she piloted the ship towards the planet, slowly entering the stratosphere.

"Who is she?" Harry asked.

The Twi'lek winced a little bit. Aurra was a very uncomfortable point for her. She could clearly see why Aurra Sing turned out the way she did, and could see herself going down that road if history was only a little bit different. "A Jedi Padawan who became a bounty hunter. I fought her on Devaron," was Aayla's short reply. There will be time and place when and where they could discuss the other woman. "I think I still have the dress I wore on that mission. I'm sure you would love to see me in it."

"She and Bosk helped some Mandalorian kid last I heard," Rex spoke up. Since he had a nice bounty on his head, and accompanied Ahsoka, he always kept an ear out for news on bounty hunters, or at least the more notorious ones.

"Well, you must tell me about that adventure the next time we can rest," Harry replied, remembering his girlfriend mentioning those two one time or another, if his memories served him right. "About Mandalorians... didn't they have something to do with the clones?"

"One of them, named Jango Fett, was the genetic template of us. Some would consider him our father," the commander replied. Though those who would call him that obviously knew nothing about the famous bounty hunter, even his so called son Boba. His payment for the job as the donor for the clone army, meant he wasn't a father in how the the new, more peaceful Mandalorians viewed such position. Fett followed the ancient Mandalorian traditions, though by those standards he was a loving father, using physical discipline as the last resort. In the old days, and even now in conservative families, a Mandalorian father meant something closer to a drill sergeant than an actual father. It should be no surprise that Jango cared very little for the clone army, aside of making sure that they are well trained fighters. From his perceptive, they were indeed nothing more than bio-droids. He trained the first group to a certain extent, and then left them to teach the groups after it.

"Speaking of clones, we got another message from Jool," Shaak said. "It seems that Sidious didn't want to leave the cloning technology in the hands of the Kaminoans." Truthfully she felt rather ambiguous about the news. While she certainly did not want a clone army or factory in the hands of the Empire, she did not believe the Kaminoans a better owner by much. A lesser evil, sure, but one she could do without.

"That's surprising," Ahsoka commented, her hand tapping the armrest of her chair. "Did she say the reason? I mean an official reason."

"Just the unoriginal, to minimize cost and danger of attacks. Obviously Sidious wouldn't trust them with the supply of his army," Aayla replied, while piloting the _Traveler_ through the clouds.

"The Kaminoans weren't against him as Chancellor," Rex reminded her. True, the Kaminoans were one of the greatest supporters of Palpatine. Of course given that they had a very profitable business arrangement, and were invited into the Galactic Senate not even months after their rediscovery, while some planets had to wait hundreds of years for that honor, may have had something to do with it. "I didn't think they'd have any problem with him being declared the Emperor."

"Perhaps they don't like the fact that he deceived them?" the youngest girl wondered aloud, though she seemed unsure of it herself. That high in politics, deceiving one another was everyday business.

"Not likely. They're very practical. If their contract is fulfilled, then that's it. They could care less about the purpose of the clone army as long as they gain from the making of it," the commander argued.

"Perhaps, that's what happened," Harry said, after thinking it over. "If this Sidious is anything like the bad guys from my home planet, then he is egotistical and power hungry. I'd bet that he doesn't want to depend on his army's supply for manpower by a semi-autonomous government, even if they would happily serve him."

"The Kaminoans are highly intelligent," Shaak said, catching on to Harry's concept. "Sidious exhibited all those qualities when he ascended as Emperor. If the Kaminoans could calculate what he would do with them when his powerbase is set..."

"They would plan something to counter him," Ahsoka finished it.

"Whatever happened, it has now come down to Kamino being under siege by the fifth armada," Rex said as they finally broke through the clouds.

Harry looked out of one of the side windows and was startled by the landscape. "What happened here?" he asked, seeing the countless craters in the planet's surface. There were dozens of them in view, but the wizard would bet a large amount of money that numerous more existed out of sight. What really surprised him was the sheer size of some of them: hundreds if not thousands of meters in diameter.

"Orbital bombardment," Ahsoka explained. The young woman was also wide-eyed upon seeing the destruction around them. "I've seen a few from space, but never on this scale."

"Neither have I," Rex agreed as he nodded along.

"The Battle of Korriban. It was fought at the end of a millennia long war," Shaak explained, her voice taking on a sorrowful note. "I heard that the Jedi and the Senate did everything in their power to break the Sith's power, but..."

The surface seemed oddly bipolar. Some places were scarred beyond nature's help, others were nearly untouched by either war or time. Luckily for them the Talisman should be in one of the latter places, near a mountain range running from the South to the North. It was a little valley, only a couple of miles away from the largest peak. The palace of Muur was a grand structure, and at least half of it was inside the cliff behind it. Outside it looked like a great Aztec pyramid made out the same sandy brown and red granite as the mountain.

Aayla took the _Traveler_ to the front of the great steps, leading to the middle and most likely the main gate. After a brief talk, they decided to leave Rex behind as backup. He was the least experienced concerning the Force out of the group and someone must remain here to watch for pursuers. Taking the first step on the soft sand and rock surface was bizarre for the girls. For them it was as if they were walking into a swamp filled with thick fog. They couldn't feel anything clearly in the Force, unless at a very close distance. It stressed them immensely, filling them with a sense of danger. Before, it always meant a Dark Jedi, or a Sith, was in the vicinity.

Harry fared slightly better as he didn't opened himself up to the Force to the same extent, despite Shaak and Aayla insistence. However, even he could feel it, making his body stiffen even further than on the ship.

Walking up towards the entrance, they looked at the statues lined up on either side. Most were human, some humanoid and few more alien, to at least Harry's eyes. The style only added to it as it only used rough forms. The material they used making them varied greatly: bronze, gold, marble, obsidian just to name a few. They all wore simple armor and weapons.

Stepping inside the palace, they arrived in what at first glance seemed as the continuation of the outside, but these sculptures were much more detailed, if still a bit minimalist. Just from the greater care of how they were made Harry theorized that they were Sith Lords instead of the warriors outside.

"The structure and decoration is unlike anything I have seen in the Archive," Maris said in wonder. It wasn't surprising as the Jedi Order as a whole only had fragments of information on the Sith from a thousand years ago. Their knowledge of those that built the palace was even more lacking.

"There are a few examples, I think. And I have seen some statues like these in Palpatine's office. I believed him ignorant of their origin. I was naive," Shaak admitted with a grimace. "Palpatine is not that kind of man who would just use something, even decorations, without knowing their hidden meaning."

All the walls bore artwork telling the old Sith Empire's history, and even ancient Sith legends. There were carvings and frescos of battles fought ages ago. Their most glorious victories, along with their greatest defeats. The walls depicted how the Lords, and champions, would rise to power, and how they fell, conquering numerous worlds across the galaxy. Both Harry and Maris would have loved to remain and study them, but time was of essence.

The hallways were wide enough that they all could walk next to each other if needed. Harry and Shaak led, followed by the two younger girls, while Aayla brought up the rear. Even with their briskly pace, it took time to arrive to the first real chamber, because of the long and twisting paths. At first it was hard to navigate with so many forks and offsets.

It was a throne room, assumedly Muur's. A large throne of black obsidian of the finest quality sat on a high platform. It had a square base and everything else was square on it. Aside a bit of gold decoration on it's armrest it remained in the minimalist style the furniture of palace seemed to bear. This of course also included the long table and the surrounding seats. The table was a marble slab sitting on two simple straight poles of metal, which were on two bent metal poles in half circle form. In the middle there was a twenty centimeter wide dome of a holo projector. The chairs were also made with the same principle in mind. It had a circular stem with a rather thin metal holding the also circular seat. The backrest, which was cut in half at the middle, while the end was cut at approximately a sixty degree angle. The walls of the hall were finely decorated, unlike either the table or the chairs. The carvings were so exceedingly intricate that Harry could see the master working at them for weeks, if not months. Of course, he could hardly know that it took two masters of the art nearly a year to complete the whole chamber.

"Alright this looks like some kind of audience chamber or conference room," Aayla said, carefully stepping inside. Maris and Ahsoka didn't have this restrain and went to study the walls. Harry and Shaak stepped on the platform and started to work on the throne's electronics, which were integrated with the palace's own communication and computer system. After few minutes, they got the map of the entire palace to appear in mid-air above the table.

"The vault is underground," the Jedi Knight stated as she pointed out the section on the three-dimensional map. It was quite obvious that something as valuable as the Talisman would be placed there.

"And there's a lift behind the throne room leading there," Maris said, pointing at the line running through the whole structure. Convenient, to say the least, but Harry was glad that Fortuna smiled upon them..

"Let us hope we can find that talisman in that vault," the Jedi Master said as they moved to the turbolift. The older female Togruta was restless on this planet, even more so than her companions. Not only were her instincts sharper, but she was also more naturally open to the Force than even Aayla.

The ride to the heart of the complex was uneventful if a bit cramped. When they stepped out, the lights turned on. They made their way into the main vault directly ahead of the lift. Sadly this section was just as zigzagged as the main one. After only a few meters, Harry stopped.

"What is it, Harry?" asked Aayla. The others also stopped, seeing him turning around looking at every corner.

"I feel like someone is watching us," Harry said softly. "I've felt it since we got off the _Traveler_ , but I thought it was just the Dark Side."

"It is, Harry..." Shaak tried to reassure him. She shared these feelings with the man, but was much more successful at locking them up.

"No! Shaak, my instincts have never failed me in my live," the wizard interrupted her. Glancing at the girls, he could see their perplexed expression. He sighed, "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm sure that there is someone watching us and it's driving me crazy."

"It is alright. All of us are on the edge," the Jedi Master stated calmly, as usual she was the first to regain her cool, even as her eyes narrowed a little bit in suspicion. "It matters not if we are not bothered. Let us move on, but stay alert."

The path to the vault, some hundred meters long, was made in silence. All of them breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived before the doors of Muur's vault. Luckily the mechanics of the gate were still functional. The vault was larger and emptier than what Harry envisioned, especially with the large door leading into it. There were several pedestals, but only a select few were occupied, most with weapons of defeated foes, mainly lightsabers. However, there were other things as well, such as gold bars in neat piles on the sides. Harry's main interest was in the triangular pyramid crystal device on the central platform. He recognized it from Aayla's tale as a holocron, a storage of phenomenal quantity and quality of data. Only a true master of the Force could create and use it to it's fullest capacity. Being in the center of the vault convinced Harry that it was pretty important.

"I don't see the amulet." the Twi'lek said, glancing at the objects in the chamber.

"It isn't here," a frustrated Ahsoka said, taking a quick look around.

"We can see that," Maris said from the side, turning towards the younger Togruta, with a frown on her face. "We came here because of you, so maybe instead of just standing around you should search for it," she sneered, sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"So it's my fault?! You're one to talk as you don't do anything. If you wouldn't just stand there, but perhaps even help a little we could do something!" came the orange-skinned girl's sharp answer.

"At least you admit that alone you couldn't do nerf shit!" was the Padawan's heated response.

"Aayla! We do not know what is in that casket! Must you always be that reckless!?" came Shaak irritated voice from the the other side of the chamber, where the two older Jedi stood in front of a rusty, old metal casket. The Jedi Master had her arms crossed, clearly unimpressed with the Twi'lek woman, who had her hands on the casket.

"Perhaps you could do something faster than a bantha for once!" Aayla hotly replied, twirling around to face the older woman. "You know that we need to get out here as soon as possible, so please worry a bit less and do things fast!"

Harry could feel himself getting angry. What the hell did they think they are doing!? They didn't have the luxury of wasting time arguing! Especially when they all knew what they were here for. It seemed that he had to calm them down and take the lead since only he could keep a level head in this kind of situation. Surprising, given what he knew of the girls, but well, it was what it was. He stepped next to them, and was just about to tell them to shut up, when he stopped himself and thought back on that.

Why the hell did they started to argue? None of it made sense. And why would he try to strongarm them under his leadership that way? It would only make matters worse. He imagined how they looked from the outside and felt his frown deepen. Maris and Ahsoka arguing? The two girls had hit it off immediately, forming a sisterly bond. Shaak and Aayla complimented each other flawlessly, with patience and assertiveness respectively, not having such problems before.

He reached out to the Force. The Dark Side was so thick it nearly choked him. For a second he couldn't even move. His power surged forward and burst through the chamber. The girls blinked at each other as the stress was literally lifted up from them.

"What happened?" Maris asked confused.

"We were trapped in some kind of Sith sorcery," Shaak answered with a frown. "Aayla, I am sorry for my words." Her voice was soft, but full of sincerity.

"Just as me." Aayla nodded back.

"Me too," Maris said it to Ahsoka, who hugged the Zabrak girl to herself.

"What have you found there?" Harry asked Aayla, trying to steer the conservation onto another path.

"I don't know," the Twi'lek replied, shrugging her shoulder. "There could be anything inside."

"Let's open it," he said as he pushed what looked like the open button. It gave a soft hiss as the door slid open and a humanoid shape stepped outside of it, revealing itself to be a droid. The next moment all of their lightsabers were out and ignited. The droid made no move of being threatening or aggressive.

" **Greetings. I'm the caretaker of the vault, M3-S3,** " came a metallic voice from it.

"It's a protocol droid," Aayla murmured to the others. "An older model from the time of the Great Sith War. A C7 or maybe C6 model."

"Hello. We came here searching for a Sith talisman. Can you help us?" Ahsoka asked the droid, who shook its head.

" **If you search for the Amulet of Master Muur then you will not find it here.** "

Harry felt his temper rise a bit at that. He was rattled by the earlier episode, and hearing that the entire journey may have been pointless did very little to calm him down.

"Can you tell us where it is?" the ex-Padawan all but begged the droid, not wanting to have come so far to not get what they were after.

" **It should be in the tower of Master Muur,** " the droid replied. " **It has been in a stasis casket for nearly four thousand years.** "

"How are you even functioning?" Aayla asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. If the droid was used by Muur then that meant it was also at least four thousand years old. No matter how well made, no droid could function after such a long time.

" **My Master made me to last several thousand years if needed, using what he labeled as Sith Alchemy. Added to the fact, that I was also in storage until you stepped into the vault, means I am in peak condition.** "

"Sith Alchemy?" Harry asked intrigued at the notion of what was considered the most advanced transfiguration form on Earth being used in some way or form.

" **It is outside of my programming,** " the droid replied in its emotionless, metallic voice. " **However, the data storage on the pedestal has sufficient information on the subject.** "

"Then we should take it with us," the wizard said, glancing at the tetrahedral form of the Sith device.

"Are you sure, Harry? Sith artifacts can corrupt the minds of their user," Shaak warned warily, looking at the holocron.

"I think we'll have the strength to stop before too late," the dark-haired man said confidently.

"Should we even be tempted by it," Aayla added dryly. The Twi'lek girl had already felt the temptation of the Dark Side in the past. She highly doubted anything the Holocron could show them would lure them towards the Dark Side. It couldn't be as powerful as what she faced before, and she was confident that they would be able to fight it off. That and she had faith in Harry.

"They always tempt us," the Jedi Master replied, frowning at the lack of concern shown by the younger Jedi Knight.

"There won't be a problem. Not if we destroy it before anything happens," the younger woman shrugged.

Harry's comlink chirped at the moment, interrupting Shaak's response.

" _Boss this is Rex. A Venator just dropped out of hyperspace and we've got three Sentinels and a squadron of Vs coming,"_ Rex's voice was collected, a testament to his training and experience.

"Girls let's move! We've got company!" Harry said as he grabbed the Sith holocron and tossed it into the bag on Ahsoka's shoulder. With little to no care for M2-S3's protest for the theft, they ran out of the Vault straight to the turbolift.

 **Back on the** _ **Traveler**_

Rex turned the comlink off as he watched the Sentinels and their escorts approach on the sensor. He could make out the insignia of the 501th Battalion on the sides and wings of the aircraft. So, he'll have to fight against his former men. That will make this little battle even more difficult than anticipated.

He quickly made his way to his cabin getting his phase II clone armor on. He slid the two hand blasters in their holster and grabbed his DC-15S blaster. While he preferred the pistols, their short range would be quite the hindrance for him in this situation. Taking several grenades with him, he went down to the cargo hold. The YU-410s had a fairly large cargo bay for its size and Rex wanted to capitalize on that.

With little to no options, he opened the hold's door and crouched down behind one of the crates in the front. He could see the first squad already coming up the ramp, slowly, gun-stocks to the shoulder with three at the center. The first was a bit more forward and two other at the sides. Then the second half, four forming a half circle as they made their way after their comrades.

The first shot got the sergeant of the squad in the neck, the weakest link in the armor's design. But the clone troopers were trained well. The first four returned the fire, while the three others carried the sergeant behind one of the crates on the side to treat him. The last one also went with them, but he radioed in, requesting back-up.

Rex couldn't help but feel strangely pleased with their caution as he took cover behind the crate again. Even with an entire squad against him, they felt the need for aid. Nearly immediately, he sprang up and started to fall back to the next crate. He got one of them in the shoulder, forcing him to drop the blaster in his hand. The next wasn't that lucky; he was hit in the stomach, then as he started to fall. Rex shot him again this time in the chest area. This was when the two who had carried the sergeant off, joined the lone survivor from the first wave.

The combined firepower had Rex on the defensive for a little while. That was when the three changed tactics. Two, presumably those who got there later, started to move to the sides trying to flank Rex. It was a good plan in theory. The only problem was that Rex had a vast experience in such tactics, thus expected it and had time to set some traps onboard. The explosion caught the advancing clone on his right side in the back. Rex didn't need to look. The clone's back was most likely ripped open by the blast. He just prayed that Harry could restrain General Secura from killing him for getting scarps on her new Z-95 'Headhunter'. That Jedi was worse than Ahsoka when it came to her ships and that's saying something!

His thoughts were interrupted by the clone closing in on his left. He quickly disregarded the blaster, the close quarters they were fighting in making it less effective than his hand blasters. Grabbing said weapons, he let loose two barrages of plasma in the direction of his enemy. He was just quick enough: the clone's shot was only inches away from his head, while his was spot on. The first four got him in the chestplate and the three other in his face. The last clone started to back off, realizing that whoever was behind the clone armor was good enough to be one of them. Rex's concern wasn't him. As the lone clone hid where his sergeant and com officer were, four figures came up the ramp. They were running, instead of cautiously walking up firing at Rex's shelter. The clone commander murmured a series of curses so long and bad, it would make even the worst pirate in the Outer-Rim impressed.

These four were also an entire squad. While regular clones operated in squads of nine led by a sergeant, the special forces did so in four men cells. It was said that one squad of clone commandos would equal a platoon of regular clone soldiers. What made matters worse was that Rex recognized them. They were the first squad in the Torrent Company, which Rex led since its foundation until he deserted about a month ago.

"Captain Appo," he greeted his former comrade as he leaned over to fire at the man going to the right, Attie.

"It's commander now, Rex," Appo's deep baritone filled the cargo bay as they returned his fire.

"That's Commander Rex?!" came the surprised shout from a clone trooper, either the com officer or the corporal. Obviously the regular clone troopers weren't informed who they were going after. "What the... fuck!" as the signature sound of metal hitting flesh came from there.

"Shut the fuck up! He was declared traitor and lost his rank! Got that?!"

Rex shook his head. Boro was as passionate as ever. It never became an issue as he reserved it to mostly to the Sep's battle droids and the scum of the Galaxy. The first category didn't care, the second deserved it in Rex's opinion.

"But he is..." There came the next slap.

Rex had to concentrate on his enemy, so only in the back of his mind did he wonder what changed. Boro was aggressive to his enemies, yes, but it mostly came from his strong sense of brotherhood with the other clones. So, why did he start to became a tyrant toward the underlings?

"The next one will be a blast to the head!" growled Boro out.

"It seems that you enjoy smacking your subordinates down, Boro," Rex called out even as he fired at the three other member of the squad.

"He needs to learn his place!" Boro shouted back angrily. "Just as you! Traitor!"

"What would you have me do, Boro?" Rex asked back, as all of them ceased shooting. "Should I just hand the Little One over to the Empire?!"

All of the clones fell silent as they remembered their petite Togruta commander. They were battle hardened, tier one operators, but the young Jedi girl wormed her way into their hearts.

"She would have served Lord Vader," Appo said at last, his voice sounding less sure than he would have liked.

Rex actually snorted at hearing that sentence. They all knew it was a lie. A lie the first squad of the Torrent Company wanted to believe in, sure, but still a lie. "You know how much truth was in that sentence. I sure do and it isn't a high number. If she wanted to do that she would already be at his side."

"It doesn't matter..." Boro was interrupted by the corporal.

"Commander Rex! Please, sir, reconsider! If you surrender I'm sure that Lord Vader would..." the plea was cut short by a shot from Boro, making the clone cry out in pain. The next shot silenced him forever.

"Enough of that," the clone commando said. "We have our orders. Today clone trooper, CT-7567 will die by the finest of the Torrent Company."

Rex could hardly believe what he had just witnessed. There were public executions among the clones, but only after being brought before the court-martial court. Of course, that was never released to the public, in any way shape or form. The political backlash would be catastrophic, after all. But even the most dysfunctional clones were better than this. Clones only killed one of their own on direct command and sometimes even that was questioned. Of course there was a chance that they had orders to eliminate everyone else as the first squad obviously did not know his presence and maybe the higher ups wanted to keep it that way.

No matter the reasons, he had a hard time digesting what he just saw, even as the 'finest of the Torrent Company' started to advance. Rex was forced to retreat as his former comrades made their way from behind one crate to the other, one at a time while the other three covered for them.

He got lucky. It had nothing to do with skills or experience. When he fell back to the last crate before the door leading to the other areas of the ship, he let loose of another barrage of blaster fire. He caught the right leg of the one on his right side. Time seemed to still in that moment. All of them watched as the trooper fell and with a loud thump landed on the hanger's floor. Rex quickly shot him in the chest, silencing him forever.

Rex knew that the hard part was starting from here on. Now that he took out one of their members, Appo and the other two will be on the edge. There was only one advantage in Rex's hand, he could use the ship's inner sensors while his pursuers couldn't.

His pursuers parted as they got behind the door. Appo went to the cock-pit, Boro to the other cargo bay, while Nax went to the residential area. Rex, himself, was in one of the hidden compartments littering the entire ship. When Nax made his way into the first cabin, Rex's own, the ex-commander quickly stepped out his hiding place. Slowly he took out his standard issue vibroblade and inched forward to get into stabbing distance. Nax turned around just as Rex came near for his blade to strike.

 **With the Jedi and Harry**

When the group of five arrived at the peak of the palace, Harry was a bit surprised. The building was huge by his standards, but he wasn't prepared for the sanctuary of Muur to be this large. The chamber was nearly as large as the cargo bay of the _Traveler_. It was nearly identical to the audience chamber in the heart of the palace. Overlooking the lack of table and the raised platform for the throne and the large terrace looking over the valley, there was one very outstanding difference: a black coffin in the right corner.

They had little time for looking around and honestly there was few things in the room to begin with. The metal casket was nearly two and half meters long with a square base. On the front it was straight up two feet then gently curved to its end where it was easily a meter in height.

"What could this be?" Harry asked the girls.

"It is obviously some kind of coffin or casket, but I do not know its purpose," Shaak replied as she carefully examined it.

"Should we open it?" Ahsoka asked.

"What if there is a Sith Lord in there?" Aayla questioned as she knelt next to the device to take a closer look.

"We don't know that!" the younger Togruta pointed out.

"Well, what else could there be?" Maris asked, stepping away from it as soon as Aayla said 'Sith'.

"I don't know, but nothing says that it must be a Sith in there!" Ahsoka replied with an eye roll. She got that they were on the homeworld of the Sith Order, but expecting Sith Lords every turn they took was a bit much in her opinion.

"Hey, girls! There is something here!" Harry shouted as he looked at the side of the throne's platform towards the black machine. "What do you think it is?"

The girls stepped beside him and looked at the fist sized orb on it.

"I don't know." Shaak and Maris said at once, but both Ahsoka and Aayla looked at it with furrowed brows.

"I feel like I had seen something like that somewhere, but I don't know where," Aayla said.

"It looks like the messenger droids, but it's a bit smaller than normal and I don't see any repulsor for it to move with," Ahsoka stated with her hand on her chin.

"Maybe a predecessor?" the Twi'lek guessed as she took it from Harry's hand with Ahsoka stepping next to her.

"Only one way to find out." The young Togruta lifted the orb with the Force out of Aayla's hand. Before the girls and Harry could start to berate her for her impulsiveness, a little holovideo started to play out. It only showed a young man, maybe Ahsoka's age with lightly curling, brown hair and brown eyes.

" _If you hear this, Stranger, than my mission to help Jedi Knight Celeste Morne failed. I'm Zayne Carrick, Jedi Padawan, falsely accused of killing my fellow Padawans. The truth is that a group of Jedi Masters committed the atrocity. I do not know why they did that on that day, but it matters little in the current situation. I do not have time to tell you all of which led to this. Celeste Morne is in the casket behind me. The Muur Talisman, a fearsome Sith artifact attached itself to her when she saved me from it. To protect us, and herself, we locked her away in this Sith device. It is a torture device, but it also keeps the body intact. I beg of you, free her of its influence. The Force be with you always, Stranger!"_

"Well, that was interesting," Harry said as the holovideo ended. "Your thoughts?"

"We should help her!" Ahsoka immediately declared.

"It is not so simple, Ahsoka," Shaak replied sadly as she regarded the coffin. She truly felt sorry for what had befallen on their Jedi sister, but...

"What do you mean, Master?" Maris asked, who was on the same mind as Ahsoka.

"She was locked up with the artifact for at least a thousand years," Aayla replied back. "It would take an exceptionally strong mind not to succumb to the amulet's influence."

"Even if that this is the case, we can only get the talisman if we open the casket," Harry stated as they moved to the device. "And we should at least make sure that this Celeste Morne has a clean death."

"I don't want to push anyone, but the Sentinels will land shortly. I can _see_ them," Ahsoka informed them as she looked out from the balcony, pointing to the rapidly approaching shapes on the sky.

"Then we don't really have a choice, do we?" Aayla asked as she pushed in the open button, before anyone could stop her. Not that there was much to discuss. They came for the amulet and had no other means of getting it fast enough to avoid the Imperials.

The casket's top lifted up revealing the woman inside. She was beautiful, as all Jedi Harry had the fortune to meet. She was human with a body closely resembling Aayla's. Her textile clamp, ebony hair reached the small of her back if not lower. She wore light armor with shoulder plates, fingerless gloves that ended on her upper arms. Her chest piece left her rift bare. Her pants also bore several plates of armor on the side of her thighs.

Her eyes flashed open and all of them stepped back in fright. Her eyes were flame like, filled with anger and fear. They were lucky to react so quickly as where Harry and Aayla stood only a moment ago a blue lightsaber's blade sweep through.

"She is possessed by the amulet!" Shaak shouted as their lightsabers were ignited.

Celeste quickly rolled out her prison for the last thousand years and rushed at the nearest opponent, Shaak. Thankfully the Togruta Jedi Master was seasoned enough that she didn't freeze like Maris did, whom Ahsoka dragged back several paces from the enraged Jedi. Aayla and Harry jumped in the fray.

The possessed Jedi thrust her blade at Shaak, who gracefully twirled out of the way, but didn't used her momentum to kill the other woman. She studied her opponent, who was distracted by the arrival of Harry and Aayla. The Twi'lek slashed at her with both sabers, but Celeste ducked under the two blades and Force pushed the advancing Harry away. The only male in the room could feel his breath being stolen away as he flew across half the room to land heavily on his back.

Satisfied that she took out one of her assailants for the moment Celeste turned to the Shaak/Aayla duo. Aayla was the first to attack being angry even if Harry quickly got on his feet. The ebony-haired Jedi Master utilized that, her eyes flashed towards Harry's form for a second. If not for Shaak's quick save, Aayla would have at least lost one of her arms, possibly her head.

That was when the two younger girls joined them. With Ahsoka and Maris, they started to keep Celeste on the defensive.

"Master, she..." Maris said to Shaak, who nodded back.

"Yes, I know. She is fighting against the talisman."

"Master, we need to help Rex," Ahsoka shouted as she battled Celeste, just as she twirled out of the way and kicked her in the side.

That was the moment when the side of the chamber opened up revealing a staircase, and two squadrons of clone troopers. The next moment the turbolift also opened, letting out another squad of them.

"Drop the your weap... arrgh!" the clone couldn't finish his order as he let out a scream of pain, filling up the chamber with its sound.

Harry could hear the bones as they broke then reformed, and the skin being ripped open as the muscle grew. The phase II armor fell off as the muscle snapped the band holding it together. Only a few moments passed but in the place of the soldier stood a monster. Larger than most humans, it was a hulking mass of muscle, razor sharp teeth and claws. It's hideous head looked at the Jedi. The eye sockets disappeared, but it's nose became huge and had two holes on it's snout. Looking around Harry could see two things. One, all of the clones were in similar state. And two, Celeste, and more importantly the Muur Talisman, obviously had something to do with it. The Talisman glowed and the possessed woman's arm was outstretched towards the monsters.

"Now, we know what the tale meant by 'raising and controlling' an army," Harry said as the course of battle turned against them.

The mutants jumped on them or rushed straight at them. Thankfully, they behaved no better than any animal or even less so. They charged blindly, making it easy to roll out of the way, or jump back or merely just step to the side. The problem was that they were fast, powerful and tough as nails. Celeste seemed content in stepping back and watching them fight with the beasts. Harry bisected the second mutant charging at him, the first being beheaded, then stabbed down the one who nearly slashed open Ahsoka's back.

"Vader! He is here, on the planet!" the former Padawan whispered.

Harry felt his eyes widen. They weren't really prepared to fight with the second most dangerous man in the galaxy. He quickly came up something resembling a plan. "Maris! Shaak! Go downstairs and help Rex, then get the _Traveler_ up and pick us up on the balcony!" he roared to the girls closest to the stairs.

"Are you sure?" Shaak asked back, not wanting to leave them behind, since they were outnumbered, but they were not ready to face Vader so an escape plan was necessary.

The wizard turned and stabbed another monster attacking from behind as he yelled, "Yes! We can take care of this. Go!"

Maris and Shaak jumped towards the stairs immediately. The three monsters jumped up to intercept them were hurled to the side by Aayla, while Ahsoka got in the way the four other running after them.

"Why would they take the stairs and not the turbolift?" the Togruta girl asked the man in charge.

"Vader will most likely will use that," Aayla replied as she slashed at two monsters, cutting off one's arm and the other's head "And hopefully they can jump down somewhere along the way so it will be easier for them to reach the _Traveler_." She stabbed another beast, then did a backward somersault over the back of another one.

That was when the turbolift again opened up. There stood a giant clad in midnight black armor. Harry heard his companions' tales about the man once known as Anakin Skywalker. This man was imposing, even while only standing there silently. Indeed, he was perhaps even more imposing than others as he just watched them.

Harry, Aayla and Ahsoka jumped back to near the throne. Celeste actually did the same as the remaining monsters, one and half dozen, formed a protective circle around her. Harry could feel Darth Vader clearly in the Force, and couldn't believe they didn't feel him sooner, only when he was that near to them. The Dark Lord was a storm in the Force, the Dark Side twirling around him. He was full of anger and hate.

There was movement on the stairs as a full platoon emerged again. The captain leading them saluted the Dark Lord, "Sir, two Jedi got away."

"It is not an issue, captain." The deep voice from the armor reverberated in the chamber. "My targets are here." The head turned fully towards Ahsoka. "It has been a long time, my Padawan."


	9. 9 Duel on Korriban

**AN: Sorry for the long hiatus!**

 **This chapter wasn't beta read!**

 **I appreciate all reviews and PMs as long as the critism is constructive.**

 **Chapter VIII**

 _Duel on Korriban_

A foot connected to Rex's chest sending him crashing into the wall behind him. Nax was quick as ever. He was a member of the 2nd squad of the Torrent Company when Rex still served in the 501th. Not a bad choice to join the 1st squad: he was one of the top three sniper in the legion and was at least decent in every other major skill set a soldier needed. The fact that he was far more level headed and meticulous compared to Boro was another point in his favor. He would never allow emotions to cloud his judgement while on missions.

And his mission now was to kill or capture Rex. The former commander didn't know which was given, but his former team seemed careless which happened. Not that he could not understand why it was the case. Turning traitor, which he did regardless of the reasons behind it, was probably the most grievous insult he could dealt to them. He betrayed his team, his brothers, after surviving hundreds of battles together, saving each other lives more times than any of them cared to count. Boro have gone, without a doubt, too far when he silenced that clone trooper in the cargo hold, but he could understand his feelings.

Rex cared little of Nax's feelings at the moment however. Not only because they were both spec ops, and thus could cast aside their feelings at times like this. It was a kill or be killed situation and in those people tend to focus on staying alive.

Nax handblaster fired two times, the first missing the commander due to firing as he turned around, the momentum not perfect for accuracy. The second was better only just missing Rex's left arm. The third which most likely would hit Rex dead in the center was nearly fired, when his vibroblade caught Nax's shoulder. The commando let out a hiss, but the a moment later Rex's own blaster fired at him. Rex was the best handblaster marksman in the entire 501th. He would never miss at such distance, unless the opponent could use the Force. His two shots hit their targets: the chest and the neck. Nax seemed surprised before the body just slumped to the floor.

His plan to silently take care of at least one of them was down in the drain. There was no way Boro and Appo didn't heard the sounds of blasters. While the ship wasn't tiny by any means it wasn't gargantuan either. He gave himself twenty seconds tops before the first one arrived here. Which was to be Boro given the respective distance between the cabins, the cockpit and the second cargo hold. Though give him another twenty seconds an Appo would be also down here.

His second play with the hidden compartment went easier than the first. When Boro came in, silent, his blaster up, looking everywhere he just looked on from where he stood. Sadly, his hiding place was nearly perfect and the few moments Boro had to study the corridor way too short to find it. When Boro looked into his cabin he quietly came out and unceremoniously shot him in the back. Not honorable or fair at all, but Rex could deal with that. He still had one clone to deal with.

Appo came just as he predicted in fifteen seconds later. He came nearly running but when he saw no movements he slowed down considerably. Rex however had no intention to kill him before he had a chance to look at Boro and Nax.

"Fuck..." He heard as Appo looked at the face of his subordinates. "At least you closed their eyes."

"They were once my comrades, just like you." Rex replied as he stepped outside, his blaster pointing at Appo's head. "I tried a peaceful solution, Appo."

"Yes, because if we let you and Ahsoka go, we won't be punished by Lord Vader, right?" Appo asked back, turning his head to look at the slowly approaching Rex.

"I doubt the General would have you killed for that." Rex said after a moment of silence. Just what happened in the legion since he left?

"Many things changed since you left Rex." Appo seemed tried. "Months ago I would have agreed with you. Now? I don't know what to believe."

"No matter what I won't betray Ahsoka."

"Kriff it all!" Appo said as he slowly draw his hand blaster with his right hand, while the left still had his DC-15S blaster. Rex tensed as his former comrade put his DC-17 hand blaster to his temple. "Tell the Little One that I'm sorry."

"Wai..!" But Rex was to slow as Appo pulled the trigger. He could only kneel next to the corpse and close the empty eyes just as he did for the other two.

Only a minute later he heard the footsteps. Somebody was approaching him fast. Aiming at the end of the corridor he barely stopped himself in time as a frantic Maris came at full speed, followed by a worried Shaak.

"Rex..." Maris was at lost on what she should say to the clone commander. Rex didn't think less of her for it. The first time he did not know what to say to those who just lost their squadmates. And he never had to talk to those who had to kill their own.

Shaak offered a few quiet and sincere words to him, but Rex only murmured a quiet thanks. He was grateful, truly, as both felt truly sorry for him. Neither the time, nor the situation was right for mourning. He didn't even know what he felt at the moment, only that it was complicated. And Rex hated complicated feelings.

"I'm alright." He wasn't and the two knew that. But they let him go on. "I will pilot the ship, you two should go for the turrets."

He turned and walked to the cockpit without waiting for an affirmation. It was terribly rude and went against every single protocol, especially as Shaak was still his superios by several rank in his mind. He put that aside for the moment. He will apologize later if necessary.

Rex dropped into the pilot seat of the _Traveler_ , waiting for Shaak's and Maris' signal to take off. The slight chance that the General might be be here disturbed him greatly. Ahsoka wasn't in the best shape when he found her weeks ago and another encounter with her past could be very dangerous for her mental stability. Not that he would ever question her fortitude, not after what he had seen her go through. But everyone had a breaking point, a weakness and the General very well could be Ahsoka's. He had seen what betrayal did for his former team and the Jedi had a deeper connection.

Speaking of which: Rex was highly rational and most often than not only accepted what he had seen what had some physical evidence of existing. Oh, he knew of the Jedi's powers (And didn't those had the hair on the back of his neck stand up every time?), but apart of that he never once seen any indication of the Force. So, he chalked the eerie feelings he got since they exited the hyperspace up to his honed skills recognizing the planet for what it was: a huge, dangerous mistake that they made simply on a haunch.

He didn't question it of course. All of them were above him in ranks and these 'Jedi haunches' were proved more often than not right in the war. Crucial even in some cases. He wanted not to dwell on it too much. He wasn't cut out off the entire spiritualism the life of the Jedi seemed to revolve around. It may be because he was a clone, trained, no, breed to simply follow orders and not to pore over such subjects, though from his observation the average citizen was just uncomfortable with the whole Force business.

Speaking of which he really should do just that and focus on getting the _Traveler_ off the ground as soon as he got the signal. A quick glance, his third in the last minute, showed all screens green for a take off. The ship's ramp was closed, the engines were ready and their astromechs were also in position to deal with any damage that didn't blow up the ship itself. All in all they could take off at the moment notice.

Thankfully the fighters circled way higher and seemed content to remain there, paired in pairs over a fairly large area to catch any who tried to flee from the ground. Rex himself did not know what their orders were, but to him it was a massive tactical error. They could have at least damaged the ship enough that it couldn't take off without hours of repair, capturing them by default. There was a chance that they could have blown all the fighters without taking such damage and escape. Not a very large one, but again, Jedi seemed to thrive on proving mathematics wrong. Whoever gave those orders will see a huge loss in status. General Skywalker never suffered fools and that trait of his only got stronger since becoming the right hand man of the Emperor.

Rex could only guess that the ground force wanted to wait, in case Appo and his squad could capture or kill them. Rex could only shake his head at their foolishness. No matter how good a clone trooper was they couldn't match a Jedi without some sort of trap and even them the odds would be heavily against them.

"Rex we can go." Came the calm voice of the Togruta master in his earpiece. That was one of the reason Rex liked being around Jedi masters. They could project a certain sense of tranquility in their voice, hell even standing near to them calmed him, and others, down!

"Understood ma'am." Rex replied, stating unnecessarily. "The fighters will be on us in the minute we lift off the ground."

"Indeed, but let us take care of them. You just focus on flying this ship well."

Rex did not reply verbally, instead he started pushing the handle in his right hand, adding power to the engines, making them roaring out as the ship slowly ascended. The V-wings, just as expected from them, immediately surged forward to engage the _Traveler._

Rex, knowing that the ship's shields wouldn't be able to withstand the fire from a full squadron if the squadron assemble when they float at the top of the temple like they needed to allow the others aboard, flew to the other side of the valley to loss at least some of them. Thankfully, the idiotic orders the fighter got suited his plans far better than the Imperials'. The fact that the fighters had to follow him if they didn't want to lose him meant they could deal with them near literally one by one.

The first pair came from their right side, slightly from above. The leader was a bit overconfident and thanks to their larger range of fire, Shaak was able to take him down before he could even fire at the freighter. His partner, seeing his companion demise, became more wary of the bigger ship. He tried to make a half circle around them on the left side, slightly below to fire on the backside of the ship. He made the mistake of taking his eyes off the downward turret to monitor the one on the top. Maris was able to capitalize on it and after two misses, hit the left S-foils of the V-wing. The starfighter went uncontrollable and crashed into the mountainside.

The next pair came mere seconds after the first' failure. They have obviously seen what happened to their colleagues so made a less straight forward approach. The laser blasts were simply deflected by the _Traveler's_ shield but Shaak couldn't hit even one of them but at least she broke their formation.

"Maris! I will try and force one of them into your line of fire!" Shaak said in the intercom. Focusing the one on her right side she fired at it heavily.

"Roger." came the petite zabrak girl reply. The fighter made it's escape from Shaak's fire below the ship just to arrive in the middle of Maris' scope. One shoot and it disappeared from the sky.

"Nice shoot! But we should take down the last before the other eight arrive." Rex said as the ship swept past one of the mountain range's peaks. Rex then pushed the joy-stick forward making the ship taking a fast descent. The V-wing, not expecting it flew past of them. Rex quickly took the ship out of the nose-dip and chased after the fighter as he know that it was far better at both speed and manoeuvering. They got lucky and the little V-wing was in both Shaak's and Maris' firing line making it an easy prey.

The next was a full flight, four fighter in formation known as Cross or X. They came entirely from the side of the ship. The only problem was that they not only fallen in fire zone by the top and bottom both, but one of the astromechs even put the side turret on the right on them. Facing the fire of three turrets before they could even respond back with accurate fire surprised the fighters, again. It seemed that the first flight didn't or couldn't make the others aware how better the freighter was in long range combat.

The bottom and right V-wing was blown to pits in the first spurt of laser, while the left one was nicked, shaking it. Maris was the one who shot it as the pilot lost control of the ship. The last remaining V-wing yielded in the attack waiting for the other flight to join him. This happened in only a minute time as they appeared above the mountain's edge.

"We will need to be done with them really soon. There are two other incoming flights and I wager that they will soon send a third one as well." Rex reported the sensor's readings to the Jedi. As he descended into a canyon forcing the V-wings into a narrow part if they wanted to chase them. It was a pair that followed the YU-410. Rex had to admit that they had some common sense at least: a full flight would be too much in a narrow place like that.

The terrain offered way more advantage to the slower but much more resistant freighter than the nimble fighters. Their only hope to survive would be if they were able to remain close to back of the ship or keeping a considerable distance. Both was problematic. To remain so close to the ship that they are out of the turrets' line of fire would first take that the fighter make it trough of that. With Jedi on the other end of the laser cannons it wasn't a life insurance. The other went straight in the other way then what they were ordered to do. They were to stay close and have the _Traveler_ in optic sight at all time. If they remain behind they could easily lost sight of it. The pair remained in the medium range fearing of either of the above to happening.

That was their mistake as they became prime target for both Shaak and Maris. The V-wings were unable to effectively manoeuver between the imposing stone walls on the side and dodge the laser blasts. The first was soon caught between two shots and had to jerk the joy-stick to the side. The explosion forced the other pilot to dive under the _Traveler_. Maris quickly made his mistake count.

The remaining three didn't followed them into the canyon for now. Only a few miles ahead there was a part were it widened out considerably and they decided to wait until the terrain allow them to fly in circles around the _Traveler_. What they didn't except was the sand-storm raging onwards to the temple from the north-east. It was so thick the V-wing pilots lost sight of the freighter when they flew out of the dust cloud.

Rex slowed down the _Traveler_ in the the sand-storm and ascended to the same altitude the fighters were. His plan worked as they moved behind them making them the hunter again.

The three pilot didn't had the time to change their course until the one on the left side was already under heavy fire. He didn't last more then five second after the first blast.

The other two decided to part from each other to the sides. One went to the left, while the other dived to the right. The side turrets of course let loose of several volley of laser after the two. The pilot on the right was caught surprised, Maris thought from the way he pulled the joy-stick this way then that, before she finished him off.

The last remaining ship made an attempt to escape to the horizon, but Shaak didn't let him going far and on the edge of their turrets' range she blasted the V-wing off the sky.

That was when the Force rippled with such power that she felt her body froze in place. She could hear Maris' panicked shout in the intercom as the zabrak padawan felt both the change in the Force and Shaak.

"Master!"

"What happened?" came Rex voice from their earpiece.

"We need to go to the temple immediately, Commander." Shaak replied out of breath "Something terrible happened there."

"As fast as I can ma'am." Rex had to force down his growing fear as he again thought on Ahsoka and Vader. He won't allow this Sith nonsense to poison the mind of his young charge.

* * *

Harry didn't wait for the Imperials to make the first move. With a wave of his hand he sent an overpowered _Bombarda_ towards Vader. He was pretty sure that at least half of the troopers would be caught in the spell's radius, but his main concern was the Sith Lord. To his surprise the giant that betrayed the Jedi Order merely raised a hand and with it a Force Shield. His spell slammed into the shield a moment later. The resulting explosion was large enough to throw back Ahsoka who rushed at her former Master. Vader seemed barely affected by it if any.

" _It would have been too easy that way."_ Harry couldn't curse his luck or lack of it enough. There was nothing to do. It would have been nice to deal with a large portion of the enemy at one go... He concentrated for a moment before he let lose a lighting bolt from his hand. It had a larger impact on Vader who loomed dangerously close to Ahsoka, forcing him to take several steps back. The Jedi girl was still on the floor, but Harry's attack gave her just enough time to recover. The sorcerer had to divert his attention however when Muur decided he was the easiest prey out the four.

Harry was able to evade the first strike fairly easily, but Muur pressed on his advantage. The problem was that Harry couldn't focus on anything but trying not to be hit by Muur lightsaber. Not so surprisingly, he didn't fancy seeing how much damage a blade made out of plasma would cause on him.

Around them the chamber was in utter chaos. For most part the clone troopers and the rakghouls attacked eachother, leaving the Force sensitives to resolve their differences between themselves. Speaking of which... Ahsoka and Aayla were barely able to stall Vader.

He sent curses and hexes at Muur to keep him at distance. None of them connected as with superhuman speed the Sith Lord evaded all of them. Harry transformed part of the floor into small steel balls and sent towards his enemy. Muur's response was a Force Push sending the balls back towards Harry. Fortunately the attack pushed him off his feet, before any of his creations could hit him. The bullets slammed into clones, rak'ghouls and even Vader got hit by one in the shoulder. It did absolutely nothing to the dark giant, apart from gaining his attention, just as Muur's.

The ancient Sith Lord rushed towards and locked blades with Harry. Terribly different from his earlier form, which was clearly based on Makashi. Not only that, but Harry could easily overpower Muur, while he was in Celeste's body.

His confusion was cleared when the Talisman detached itself from Celeste's arm and slid on his own.

" _Fuck.."_

Harry found himself standing in front of the throne in Muur's private chamber. Glancing around he couldn't help but see the difference. His friends or their enemies were nowhere to be found, nor the signs of the battle. The chamber looked like it would in it's golden days. Heavy, red and gold drape hung from the ceiling, luxurious daybeds on either side of a single round table. On it was a bowl full of blue, green and purple fruits. Next to it stood a tall, golden pitcher with two golden cups next to it.

"Where I am?" Harry wondered out aloud. He was quite sure that this wasn't real...

"It's marvelous, isn't it?" asked a voice back with some not-so-well hidden self-satisfaction. Harry turned toward the voice which belonged to a tall, lean, elderly man. He was mostly human, aside from his pointed ears. He had silver goatee and sideburns the same color his lightly balding hair possessed. He wore red, ceremonial tunic with golden trimming, not unlike the Jedi's own if much more decorated, with a black cloak over his shoulder. His eyes were deep gray with undeniable wisdom shining in it. He spread his arms out in invitation as a soft smile played along his lips. "Welcome, my friend to Korriban in it's golden age!"

"You are Karness Muur!" Harry realized as he tried to light his lightsaber only to find it missing. The elderly man only smiled a little, holding his arms open.

"Yes, I'm. I'm also quite honored that my name is so well known in your time." Muur replied with a small, elegant nod. Harry furrowed his eyebrows.

"Why do you talk to me? I thought as a Sith..."

"I would be nothing more than some dark, menacing figure, out for your blood?" The Sith Lord asked, with a small laugh. Clearly the notion was amusing to him. "What do they teach the young ones nowadays at that temple of yours?" He shook his head as if he was disappointed in the Jedi Order's lack of proper teachings. "Though I'm not that surprised that they won't tell you everything about the Sith Order. Even the masters know only what their precious Council allows to be known or they learn on their own. And precious few try to see us for what we are."

"That's doesn't answer my question." Harry replied, not bothering to correct his speaking partner in his assumption of Harry being a Jedi. For he had no time to do so and it mattered little if any.

"No, I did not." Muur let out a little laugh again. "It's pretty simple in all honestly. I felt in the Force that you used some form of alchemy, which to my knowledge is strictly forbidden by the Council. I wanted to meet the young man who took interest in my _art_." He said as his eyes eagerly looked at the emerald eyed man in front of him. Harry was taken back at his proclamation. Not that he described it as art. In the hands of a master such disciplines could very well be considered a form of art. But declaring it as his... That was very bold and arrogant thing to do in his mind. Or meant that he shouldn't underestimate his opponent.

"Your art?"

"Yes, of course!" Muur shouted in anger, looking out of the balcony. "I was the one to collect and organize those precious shards of knowledge and systematize them into this great disciple!" He turned back his eyes onto Harry, his eyes glowing in rage "Who dared to steal my glory?! Dreypa?! Ajunta?! No, it was XoXaan, wasn't it?!" He clearly thought that Harry questioned his involvement with alchemy at all.

"I don't know." Harry answered truthfully. He didn't even heard from these persons before after all. "I mostly self-educated myself, with scraps of old texts to help me with." Again, this was the truth. He had seen some of the Flamels' notes, but what he read was nowhere near the full knowledge of the two. He doubted that anybody had the time to learn what the Flamels did. After all most of their near six century of life was filled with learning about the world they lived in.

"Truly? Most impressive!" Muur sudden anger vanished, replaced by genuine curiosity and awe. Harry started to wonder if the old Sith Lord was bipolar by how quickly his mood seemed to change. "You must be very talented to know so much so young."

"I'm honored by your praise." Harry bowed to the old Sith Lord, though very careful to have him in sight all times. "But I would hardly call myself a master yet. There is still much for me to learn in... your _art_."

"Isn't there always?" Muur asked back with a strange light entering his eyes "And I would like to request that you don't do that anymore." Harry immediately froze up.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't think I wouldn't notice your attempts at escaping this place, did you?" Muur asked, softly laughing to himself at the young man naive thinking.

"I suppose I should have excepted you to notice it." Harry nodded along. He tried to feel and escape this...illusion or whatever it was since the moment he noticed the fight going around them "So where are we? I would wager that it is some kind of illusion... And what of my friends?"

"I wanted to speak with you in your mind, but your mental defenses are... impressive. So I had to create this astral plane for us to meet." Muur replied. "As for the other Jedi... they are still fighting with the other Sith."

"I don't have time to speak with you! I have to go and help them!" Harry shouted in panic at Muur. Vader was even more powerful than he anticipated and he was not comfortable with leaving Aayla and the others facing him without him.

"Calm yourself, young one. I also joined the fight. And I believe you would be interested in hearing what I have to say." Muur dismissed his concerns without the tiniest care for the other Jedi. "I won't bore you with the story of my life, even if it was an interesting journey, after all you are right: we don't have much time."

"I was once a Jedi just like you and your friends." He continued, his eyes staring out in the distance. "I was always fascinated with finding new ways one could manipulate the Force... But the Council disagreed with me nearly from the start. Soon I was ordered to stop or be banned. After that me and many of my fellow padawans who also felt the restrained by the Council left Coruscant. I lead them and become the first Lord of the Sith."

"What I always wanted was to leave a legacy behind I could be proud of. Sadly, that was out of my reach in my life." He said returning his eyes to Harry "I can teach you much, my young friend. So much that those who sit upon the Jedi High-Council would never allow to even see, let alone study. Together..."

" _Harry!_ " Aayla pained voice torn through the astral plane. Harry immediately felt his patience with the Sith Lord swept away.

"I am honored, but I have little interest in learning from you. Now I want to go to and help my friend." Harry said, his eyes steel hard as they bore into Muur's."I will only ask you this once. Release me from this!"

"You think I will allow you to leave after you spat at my offer, for which most would kill for?" Muur soft, old voice turned into the hiss of a viper. The Sith Lord shed his charming self to reveal the face of the ruthless conquer. "I will destroy you, then use your body as a host. After all it will be much easier to break those girls if I have a familiar fac..."

Harry didn't allow him to finish his sentence. He let the Force gather in his palm and let it loose at the Sith Lord. The ancient Sith Lord only laughed at him as he erected a Force shield. It withstood Harry's attack, but just barely, fading away as soon as the Force Push ceased. The Sith Lord replied with Force Lighting busting from his fingertips.

Harry rolled out of the way and let loose two light arrow at the surprised Sith. It was one of his favourite attack for its great accuracy, but it required great amount of control. But Karness Muur lived through hundreds of battles, where unexpected things were the norm. He deflected the first to the right with his palm covered in the Force causing it to explode on the side wall, punching a small impact crater in it. What gave Harry a pause was his enemy's next move. His right foot, a little bent before him, his left extended behind himself. Both his arms were also extended on his shoulder level. Both palm facing the second attack, fingers curling outward like claws of some kind of bird of prey. When the attack slammed into his hand the Sith Lord let out a small grunt, but stood his ground. Finally making a turn he hurled it back at Harry who could only jump out of the silvery arrow made of light.

" _Stupid, stupid..."_ Harry had to postpone scolding himself. He thought that his second, and much more powerful arrow will be able to pass Muur's defense. Because of his failure to remain concentrated on the battle he had to cast a shield in front of him then let out an _inferno_ , a jet of flame upon Muur, who seemed unfazed by this turn of events. The Sith Lord looked even oddly pleased with Harry's abilities if the slight grin on his face was anything to go by.

Harry forgotten the basic of magical duel: never stand still. Or be able to cast shields powerful enough to protect you from harm even when fighting at least three other wizards or witches. Only someone like Dumbledore or Voldemort, both who outclassed most by far, could get away with standing still and chatting or simply gazing at his opponent. And when the time came for it both could move with surprising agility. If you were unwilling or unable to do either you had to resort to overpower your enemy with brutal firepower and skill like Professor Flitwick. Though, truth be told the diminutive dueling champion was only such fearsome opponent on one on one.

Harry needed to resort to this last method this time. It was a risky gambit, making a full-frontal assault on a mostly unknown enemy without much thoughts on defense. But he didn't have time run around hoping that one of his spell hit Muur or that he could outlast him or see a crack in his defense.

With that in mind he made took two step forward before turning to Muur on his sideway, nearly on the other side of the chamber and charged. The Sith Lord seemed a bit worried as Harry let loose a furry of spells causing him to slowly lose ground. Harry cast another pair of light arrow, but his attack was stopped when Muur's force push caught him in the chest, throwing him back. His own cutting curse also caught his opponent on his left arm. Muur hissed out at the pain flashing through his body. Blood spurted from the long and deep wound running along his forearm, rendering the appendage more or less useless.

Harry pressed his charge on. Clasping his hand together than on the ground he resorted to his alchemy. Numerous pillars bust from the ground from where Harry was towards Muur. Not even waiting it to finish Harry started running on the construct and jumped off the top of it towards his opponent. Muur moved towards the throne meanwhile. Grabbing the two chair on his side with the Force he threw it at the younger man. Harry let one sailing over his head and threw the other to the side using the Force.

He and Muur stood about ten meter apart circling eachother, Harry firing off various spell, which Muur counterattacked with force pushes and lighting bolts. Harry again started to charge at his opponent after turning out of the way of the last lighting bolt, but Muur expected his move this time. Harry screamed in pain as the force lighting hit him in the chest, falling to the ground.

"You are too impatient." Muur observed calmly. "You need to learn when to let your emotions run free and when to reign them in. Power and skill mean nothing without discipline."

Harry could hardly do anything as his body was also mildly paralysed by the attack. He quickly erected a shield around him and started to heal himself. Muur gaze held only amusement as he looked down at him as the white and blue bolts engulfed the dome of his shield.

"You are still struggling. You are lucky that I can't use my other arm or my lighting would sweep away your shield." He looked smugly at the man on the floor not even three meter aside from where he stood. "But you can't hold out forever."

Muur obviously didn't notice the self-healing going in the dome. Harry could feel its effect already: the paralysis was gone and his pain also dulled. It was far off of being a complete recovery, but it will have to do for now.

Harry's palm connected to the ground and spikes grow out of it. Muur was nearly impaled by the first but he could jump out of the way before it went though his chest. Only the sleeve of his tunic got a long split in it as the spike nicked it.

Harry was on his feet the moment Muur had to cease the force lighting and moved towards the Sith Lord. Muur landing ungracefully on his side was in the middle of getting up when Harry's first spell made contact with him. Muur howled in pain as the silver arrow pierced his leg then the second his shoulder.

"You are lucky that these are _very_ unpowered versions or you would have lost both your leg and arm." Harry said "Now, I need to know how can I leave this place."

"You are a very powerful man." Muur looked at his opponent with contemplating look in his eyes. "You aren't a Jedi, boy. None of them would use such lethal power twice against an opponent they clearly beat already. Who are you?"

"I don't care about your thoughts of me." Harry interrupted him. He was past the point when he would indulge the Sith Lord. "I only care about getting out of here and helping my friends."

"You eclipsed my expectations of you." Muur continued, as if not seeing the clear signs of Harry's anger. Maybe he really did not or simply choose to ignore it. "Let me see if you can do better. Try and break trough this prison! But don't forget: your friends are in danger!"

"Wha.." Harry started to ask, but could only watch as Muur's body faded away from the astral plane. Harry stared at the spot, where not even two seconds ago laid a Sith Lord and couldn't help but let out a frustrated yell.

Forcing himself to calm down he thought out his options. Doing nothing wasn't one of them. Even if without Muur's presence this astral place would fade, it could take precious minutes. He could try and force his way out of here, but the outcome was dubious. What if it was like the devil's snare, which constrict and strangle the victim ever more if there is a resistance?

Harry could only do it if he knew the weakest point of the structure. He concentrated on his surrounding, the Force, feeling every black fiber of it as they intertwined into eachother. The chamber was like it was made of solid smoke, its ceiling floor and walls black and gray gas, but it wouldn't let him through. He could feel it slowly giving away, but could hardly wait for it to happen. He focused on finding the weakest points.

Then a point flashed in the middle of the chamber. The weakest point. Then another not far off. Then again a bit further away on the other side. Not long after the chamber was littered by gleaming little points in a cob-web formation.

Harry couldn't help but let a satisfied little smile forming in the corner of his lips. He focused his power in the cracks and the lines between then started to give away.

" _I'm coming, Aayla._ " he thought to himself as the Force shook again.

* * *

Aayla was just about to leap at Vader again, when she felt the Force shift dramatically. Her head turned towards her boyfriend and a small gasp left her at what she have seen. The talisman they came to destroy was on Harry's arm. She could hear her horror filled voice calling out to the man. Time seemed to slow down as she started to run towards Harry. Before she could reach him though a wave of force repulse erupted from Harry's body.

Aayla being at that point one of the closest to him was thrown back next to Ahsoka, just as was Celeste Morne, who was in the middle to scramble to her feet. The ancient Jedi knight was clearly disoriented, but thankfully could recognize Aayla and Ahsoka as members of the Jedi Order.

"What's happening?" she asked, her voice a bit raspy for being unused for a long time, as she looked over the chamber. Her glance found Harry, the Talisman clearly visible on his forearm "Who is he?"

"A friend." Aayla replied as every living being stood still, staring at the emerald eyed man.

"Can he resist the Amulet?" Celeste asked worriedly as the beasts and clones started the fight again.

"He will." The twi'lek girl replied as she slashed one clone in half who backed into her reach from a beast. She also thrust her ligthsaber at the monster but it was able to jump to the side, only to be beheaded by Celeste in a swift move. Morne's face turned towards Harry but quickly drifted onto the hulking giant, clad in black armor behind Harry. She could instantly recognize the man for what he was.

"Sith!" She angrily cried out as she dashed toward Vader.

Before she could try and clash the Sith Lord, Harry moved at last, clashing with Vader. Five other clone transformed into monsters as he waved at them, while he started to press on Vader. Unlike their earlier encounter Harry was able to match the Sith Lord. But the Sith Lord didn't react to it. He was like a mountain: unmoving, enormous and cold. Vader steadily defended himself against Harry's furious attacks.

"He is being possessed!" Celeste shouted at the other girls as soon as she seen Harry using the Amulet's power. They were cut off from that section of the chamber thanks to the rampaging beasts and clones between them and the dueling pair. Aayla froze as soon as she heard her and looked again at Harry. As he made a half turn to slash at Vader from the side, his face turned side-way. Aayla could clearly see the golden-red eyes, the clear sign of being a practitioner of the Dark Side.

"Harry!" she screamed out, trying to reach through the Talisman's power to the man she had grown extremely fond of. He didn't react to her scream as if he didn't even heard her. Aayla couldn't help but feel worried for him even as she battled against the clones and the monsters left in the chamber. She knew that Harry had exceptional willpower, but will it be enough compared to Karness Muur?

Muur pressed on, his dance like moves evading Vader crushing blows. He either stepped, rolled or jumped out of the hulking giant's way. Then stabbed or slashed at his opponent, who was able to deflect most of it. Only his black cape and armor received a few holes and scratches. They were unable to overpower the other their skills, a master of Makashi and a master of Djem So, seemingly evened out by Vader's greater physical strength and Muur's agility in Harry's body.

"It's seems that our skills with our weapon are equal." Muur mussed out loud coming to the same realization. "But what about our control over the Force?"

His and Vader's Force Push met between the two. For several second they struggled to overpower the other just as they did with their skills with lightsaber. But the result was much more...explosive. It threw the two combatants back. Muur made a backflip using the momentum of his failed attack, landing on his feet. Vader wasn't thrown as far up more like sliding on the floor of the chamber.

That was when the Jedi joined the fight. Aayla rushed at the body of Harry while Ahsoka and Celeste engaged Vader. Aayla crossed blades with Muur, looking in his eyes searching for any hint for her beloved.

"Ahhh, Aayla Secura." Muur said seeing her, causing her eyes to widen considerably. "I have seen you in the boy's mind. He lust after you. But afraid of speaking of his desire for you. Afraid that he would destroy what you two have."

"Enough!" Aayla shouted, pushing back Muur. She just was about to strike at him when Harry's body went rigid. He closed his eyes and revealed them emerald when he opened his eyes.

"I can see every little weak spot in your Amulet, Muur." Harry murmured as he studied the golden jewel on his forearm. He forced his magic into the cracks of the Talisman. The cracks deepened, starting to appear on the surface. When to of the largest crossed the amulet fell apart.

Harry locked eyes with Aayla, their presence gently brushing against eachother in the Force. Aayla's fear slowly faded away as the darkness surrounding Harry left completely. Aayla wanted to hug the man, cuddling to him as she did many times in their suit. But they were on a battlefield, with monsters trying to rip them to shreds, clones firing blasters at them and a Sith Lord on rampage. She had to settle for standing back-to-back feeling his frame next to her. Not as good as a cuddle but she will take what she got.

Ahsoka and Celeste were able to stall Vader, but the monsters roamed free in the chamber and only a little over a squad of clone remained. One of the beasts jumped at the pair, who broke up and dived to the sides. The monster landed on the spot they stood only a moment ago. He stood still as if he couldn't decide to which prey he should go after. Aayla made the decision short: she stabbed it in the back as the beast looked at Harry.

Harry looked around and had to admit it wasn't a pretty sight. Half a hundred or more bodies littered the ground of the chamber, clones and monster together. Most of the soldiers were either ripped apart by the monsters or sliced in two by lightsaber, but a few were only injured. There was a small group of clones in one corner near the stairs, fending of the remaining monsters while covering a few of their injured comrades.

Ahsoka and Celeste were fighting Vader in the middle of the chamber. The two worked fairly well together despite only meeting mere seconds before attacking the Sith Lord. They tried to flank him, Ahsoka going to the left, Celeste to the right. The Sith Lord crossed blades with his former apprentice and with a wave of his hand he extended Celeste's jump for the Jedi to crash on Ahsoka's side.

Harry could catch some faint words from the conservation exchanged between the former master-padawan pair. "...Children... Padme... betrayed them!" Vader's rage seemingly took hold over the man at that moment. He pushed Ahsoka away in a sudden surge of strength leaving his back exposed for attacks. Harry immediately fired a silver arrow at the target.

Somehow Vader caught sight of the coming danger out of the corner of his eyes. Or felt it in the Force. Harry didn't know which happened to be honest, though would bet on the later one considering Vader's helmet. But the how mattered little as the armored giant didn't side stepped or erected a shield to defend himself. Turning side way his left hand simply grabbed and crushed Harry's spell. The black haired man was more than a little frustrated at that point. Unlike at the beginning he did put everything he had in that one. Admitedly he was exhausted both by defeating Muur on the Astral Plane and destroying the Amulet. But what the Sith Lord did hammered very important facts into him on the matter of just how strong Vader and the Emperor were. They needed to get out here and fast.

While his mind run over that realization, Vader crossed the gap between them in two great stride. Harry was barely able to avoid the downward slash of the lightsaber to the side. When he wanted to strike back Vader easily blocked his strike to his chest with his red blade. Harry had to back away from the armor clad giant. Only thanks to his near superhuman reflexes was he capable to keep his injuries to superficial. Vader had a good four inch greater reach, better skills with the lightsaber and monstrous strength. Before he could corner him, Harry cut it out by jumping up to the wall and with the Force's help jumped over the Sith Lord.

The three Jedi girls finished the remaining seven beasts near to the throne by the time Harry joined them. The four formed a line, face to face with Vader as he moved through the chamber. The Sith Lord silently stood across them. Before they could try and attack him he trusted his arm out. A massive, telekinetic explosion erupted from his hand. The four hastily formed their own shield, creating an electric blue half dome over them. For a few seconds the shield strained under the sheer power of it. It seemed that it may be able to deflect the attack, but Celeste and Harry couldn't hold out and the shield wasn't able to withstand the power of the attack. It shattered like glass and the four behind them was thrown out to the balcony. Vader tried to go after them, but three monster sprung at him from behind.

"Look! The _Traveler_!" Aayla cried out, pointing at the ship coming for them. She and Ahsoka were mostly unharmed from Vader's attack but Celeste had trouble to get on her feet and Harry's side made painful contact with one of the pillar in front of the balcony. The young man hissed in pain as his left hand clutched his right side. From what he was feeling at least three of his ribs got bruised if not broken outright. If it was a full contact he would either have a broken spine or simply be dead.

The ship's ramp was down and the three Jedi jumped up on it. Meanwhile Harry turned back to secure their escape. He was right to be cautious because Vader easily dispatched the three monster and unstoppably came towards them. Harry summoned all his remaining power and let loose a stream of white fire at Sith Lord, stopping his advance.

Turning towards the ship he jumped, but could feel in his heart that it wouldn't be enough. He was only inches apart from the edge of the ramp when a blue and an orange arm grabbed hold of him and dragged him into the inside of the ship where he dropped like sack of potatoes. Only with Aayla's help could he drag himself to the lounge. Aayla gently helped him laying down on the long seat. Harry could hardly believe how weak he felt and obviously it was also seen by his Twi'lek partner.

"Go into trance, Harry." Aayla softly ordered him.

"I can help." he stubbornly replied, but his weak attempt was stopped by Aayla's hand on his chest gently pressing him back to the seat.

"No, you can't in your condition. Rest for now."

Meanwhile the _Traveler_ flew out of the planet's ambience and steered into the closest point from where it could enter the hyperspace. The ship's engine was operated on the maximum, to outrun their pursuers. Not the fast V-wings or even the squad of ARC-170. They were simply too fast for the _Traveler_ to even try it. But the three Venator behind them was an entirely different story. The fighters role, more than likely was only to slow them down enough for one of the Star Destroyer's tracktor beams to reach them.

Rex could feel the cold sweat forming on his forehead. They were nearly at point where the planet's gravitational pull would be weak enough and they could use their hyperdrive. But the Venators were considered the fastest ship for their size for a reason. It would be a toss up. Whoever will win their little race will only beat the other by just a few seconds.

"Rex, the sensor can detect a beam coming at us!" Aayla, who joined him in the cockpit only a minute ago said to him "We won't make it!"

Rex just pushed a bottom at the computer without responding. A little tube detached itself from the bottom of the ship. After a few seconds it exploded, leaving a cloud of dust behind. Both the clone and the Twi'lek Jedi's eyes were on the sensor, waiting for it's readings with without batting an eye. The tracktor beam hit the cloud and seemed to be stopped by it. A little beep alerted them that they could finally leave this star system behind for good. Aayla quickly pulled the hyperdrive's handle, causing the stars to form lines as their entered the hyperspace.

* * *

Back on the planet a man, clad in black tunic, a hood concealing his features looked highly amused by the battle fought mere minutes ago in Muur's palace. He stood on a cliff overlooking the vale, one leg slightly bent as it was on a larger rock. He had a binocular in his hand, which he used to watch the three-way battle and the Jedi's escape from the planet. He was intrigued for two very good reasons.

First was the emergence of the Muur Talisman. The fabled artifact was sought after by nearly every Sith who learned of it's existence. What irked him greatly was that every account said that the Amulet was looted from Muur's corpse and delivered to Sorzus Syn who was either on Dathomir founding the ancient Nightsisters or in the Galactic South at the time. The records were often unreliable and conflicted eachother on the subject. No matter, few dared to search Dathomir and less had the patience to search the entire South. Thus the Amulet was considered lost.

Now, it was revealed that it was in front of him, right under his nose and he couldn't help a wry smile forming on his lips. While he didn't want to rely solely on the Amulet, it was still a great weapon in the right hands.

Now, however the main focus of his attention was the man who destroyed the Talisman. The emerald eyed human confused him, to such extent which he found mildly irritating. That man was neither Jedi or Sith, yet used Force Sorcery and with such mastery that surprised even his spiritual companion.

"What do you think about that man Xoxaan?" he asked the blue hued Force ghost. His voice deep and a bit coarse from the lack of use. The Sith Lady floating next to her was not someone who could be considered beautiful, not anymore at least. Her hair was still long and had a healthy shine, but her tattooed cheeks were shrunken. Her strips covered body still looked agile and flexible, yet her finger nails grew into long claws.

"He is an anomaly." Xoxaan's own voice was like a clips of ice. Cool and calculating, watching every single word she said. "He could be your greatest ally or your most formidable foe."

"He used Force Sorcery." The man replied, considering the possibilities of what that could mean. "He seems to use the Force freely. I did not know it was possible."

"Neither did myself." the Force ghost admitted after a moment of silence. The man nearly smirked. Xoxaan hated the unknown. Especially if it was the Force. She might even consider this a personal insult!

"Do you think we could persuade him to join our side?" The man asked excited at the prospect of gaining such a powerful ally.

"Maybe." Xoxaan allowed. Such open minded approach was a rarity, even to someone who 'lived' through the ages in a fashion. "But for now you wouldn't be strong enough to overthrow this Emperor or his lapdog either way." She waved at dark figure of Vader as he boarded one of the Sentinels.

"I need to become much stronger to do that." The man nodded to himself. He won't, could not let himself become overconfident. Many had fallen because of their pride. But the wise learned from the past. And he considered himself wise. "And when I do I will destroy both the Jedi and the Rule of Two."

"Both are the sides of the same coin really." Xoxaan agreed. "Both want to control the Galaxy, but neither want to do anything about the problems. You have seen it. Seen the corruption running in the Senate, the oppression of the masses, how those honorable will be put down first."

"I will need followers, those who share my dream to be able to do what I have to." The man said with a small grin as he imagined the future. He read the old texts and seen the secrets of the Sith holocrons. He knew what needed to be done. Both the Jedi and the Sith swayed from their true path. As he was once a Jedi who followed the Code and having seen Xoxaan's memory of the old one, he could see what the Order became over the years.

It was futile to try and save it. They were nothing more than glorified diplomats and watchdogs of the Galactic Senate. They were mere puppets, played by an organization corrupt to its root. And the High Council knew it, but were too wary of war to do anything. Soon after the Reformation they were too weak to do anything even if they wanted, but maintaining the status quo. The easiest way to ensure peace. One that did nothing to solve the true problems.

The Sith was fractured beyond hope, apprentices killing their master or eachother in a mad game for power. Then Darth Bane came and introduced the Rule of Two. Not caring how it affected the Sith Order only caring about his personal gain as all of the others before him. He had to hand it to the Sith Lord, he took it to far higher levels than most though he was not that special, but lucky enough to survive the Seventh Battle of Ruusan. The only thing the Rule of Two was different compared to it's predecessors that it limited the Sith down to two members, forcing it to fight from the shadow.

"I will create an Empire where everyone will work for the betterment of the whole and not the individual." He continued, looking over to Sentinels slowly disappearing in the horizon. "Will you help me?"

"I will help you archive this dream of yours." Xoxaan replied with a cold smirk aimed at the man's back. Neiher said another world as they looked over the sunset, each imagining two very different future.

* * *

The crew of the _Traveler_ gathered in the lounge. All, but Rex and Celeste choose to sit down. Rex leaned to the wall next to Ahsoka's seat while Celeste, arms crossed did so with the door frame leading to the cabins. Harry, with Aayla leaning on him could feel the Jedi Knight's gaze burning into his head.

"I should thank you, but I cannot feel truly grateful knowing that you are in the company of a Dark Jedi." Celeste said to the four Jedi, even if her eyes never left Harry's form.

"I can assure you that Harry is not a Dark Jedi or a Sith, Celeste Morne." Shaak replied, with a touch of admonishment in her voice.

"He used Force Sorcery! What else could he be?!" Celeste riposted "You may see it as nothing but I don't believe the High Council will see it that way."

"The High Council already know about Harry's abilities." Aayla cut in, before Shaak could reply "Shaak is a member of it, after all."

Celeste raised an eyebrow at it but when all of them nodded, she sighed aloud.

"My apologies. I didn't know that our stance on Force Sorcery changed."

"It did not." Shaak replied. Before the ancient Jedi knight could voice her surprise "A lot happened since you were placed into that casket. Allow me to explain."

The following two and half an hour was spent recounting the brief history of the Jedi Order since the Ruusan Reform till the end of the Clone Wars. While the Jedi told their sister about the War, Rex and Harry, along with the astromechs, searched the ship for any homing beacon. Luckily it seemed that the Imperials were again unable to plant a device on the _Traveler_. When they made their way back to the galley the situation was less tense, but Celeste still eyed Harry warily.

"I was a Jedi Shadow. Do you know what that means Sorcerer?" she asked the man entering the room.

"No, not really." Harry replied, admitedly less than interested what she had to say. She scowled at him, but Harry just shrugged it off. He had a long day and had little interest in doing anything but taking a nap. He didn't had any problem with the new addition to their crew, yet anyway. If she didn't loose this mistrusting personality of hers along the way that's her problem. It was little use to worry about these kind of things. Only time could tell if it will come down to it.

"Then listen carefully. I was tasked to bring down Dark Jedi, Sith and destroy Sith artifacts. You are none of these, but you are also a dangerous Force sensitive. You saved the Jedi Order, so I owe you this one warning. I will watch you closely Sorcerer. If I catch even the slightest hint of you falling to the Dark Side I will kill you."

The other occupants of the room tensed and both Aayla and Shaak seemed to say something to the human Jedi, but Harry stopped them. He was pretty sure, from past experience with Ron and Hermione, that if he allowed them to argue on his behalf it would only strain the relationship between the Jedi.

"I'm grateful for your warning... what should I call you? Celeste? Jedi Shadow? Jedi?" Harry asked back.

"You can call me Celeste. It matters little to me." the woman replied.

"Then please call me Harry." he replied. Celeste nodded, her face completely neutral "If we don't have any other business to discuse..."

"I would have one, Boss." Rex said. The clone was silent during until now. Seeing the bodies in the cargo hold told Harry what was behind that. "I said it before arriving on Korriban that there are several group of clones who deserted... I would like to contact them."

"Can we trust them? Aagh! What was that for?" Maris asked, as Ahsoka stick her elbow into Maris side. The Togruta girl inclined her head towards the clone commander. "Oh sorry, Rex! I didn't want to imply..."

"I know. No harm done." Rex assured the young Zabrak girl. "Really it was a reasonable question."

"We need men to manage our ships." Aayla said, causing the others to nod.

"We should also try to recruit the rangers." Shaak said after a moment to think about it. The Galactic Rangers were a paramilitary organization with the aim to help the Jedi Order. They were often mistaken for the Sector Rangers who were an elite law enforcement organization.

"I have some contact with them." Ahsoka said "We helped us out in the past. And I heard that they had been also disbanded after the fall of the Jedi Order. Those who didn't..."

"Became public enemy." Aayla finished.

"I say we contact those of them who we know to be trustworthy at first." Harry said "We can discuss the rest tomorrow or the day after. I don't think we are exactly in the right state to make any serious decisions."

"True, we should try and rest a bit." Shaak agreed and the others also looked ready to retire for the 'night'.

Aayla and Harry was the first to leave the crew longue and head to their room. Stepping inside the room they wasted no time for going to the bed. They were so tired they cared little to shower before taking a nap. Aayla snuggled into Harry's said who absent-mindedly trailed his fingers on her lekkus.

"What happened today?" Aayla asked after a few minutes "Ahsoka and Celeste didn't see you fighting before, but I know that you didn't used your spells so freely before."

"When I arrived I had trouble controlling my magic." Harry replied softly "Attempting to cast spell without a foci, somekind of magical artifacts to help you is considered very stupid among my people. Few would dare to try and those who were able to produce... passable result are heralded as something of a genius."

"And those who don't?"

"If they survive it then arrogant." Harry replied with a shrug. "Not without reason. Magic is chaotic by nature, and it is extremely difficult to tame it without a wand. It require both immense magical power and phenomenal control."

"That's why you didn't use it earlier." Aayla said.

"Yes and no." Harry replied "It is tiring but even so it is easier, well for short bursts, a bit than on Earth. But it felt strange. I could hardly predict what would happen if I use a specific spell. I'm still fairly sure that conjuration is out of the question. And.."

"And?" Aayla asked back, raising her head from his shoulder.

"Well, Shaak seemed very alert of it at the beginning, nearly as much as Celeste." Harry replied reluctantly. "I didn't want to make a mistake and blow up something when she was already wary of it."

"Idiot!" Aayla admonished him a bit "Blow up?"

"Electronics and magic didn't go well with eachother in my home dimension." Harry replied, not going into that with the right runic work they could eliminate it.

"Well, I hope that from now on, as you can control it again and Shaak isn't that wary of it, you will do so. It won't take long before Celeste cease being mistrustful of you."

"I hope so." Harry replied as he lovingly kissed Aayla's brow as the optimistic Twi'lek gone to sleep. He didn't want to think about Celeste and her reaction to him. He could understand her. Being tortured mentally by a Sith artifact for thousands of years can do that to you.

But he could feel a bit uneasy knowing that her reaction to the Sith Holocron he looted from the Palace of Muur was in his room, being taken from Ahsoka's bag when he and Rex searched the ship. And he had every intention to study it's knowledge.

* * *

 **I got a few reviews after the original chapter that I made Vader too strong or Harry not badass enough. I try to avoid either of them. Vader is one of the main villain after all and Harry cannot just kill him with a wave of his hand.**

 **Now, we arrived at the point when the plot and the differences in several characters will come out. Celeste won't be happy with Harry and she won't be the only Jedi. A few chapters and we will meet the founders of the Rebelion.**


End file.
